This last weekend I celebrated my 27th birthday. I drove down to Wellington, the capital and spent some time with my best friend. It was boss =) 27 is both a big number and a tiny, insignificant one. It’s scary and exciting and I’m not quite sure how to feel about where I’m at in life. But that is a tale for another time because I’m starting a new tradition!
Every year on my birthday I’ve decided I want to share an original piece of writing from one of my worlds with all of you. This year I have chosen to jump into Ibbiana’s world for you all, thanks to the wonderful f*ck ups happening in the media lately surrounding climate change. Ibbiana’s world is one ravaged by war and destruction…
We no longer have access to the satellites that orbit the earth, international travel is impossible now that the fossil fuels are all gone. After the war… you know the one. When the filthy humans decided my people – a people they created – needed to be put down. They decimated our numbers, and we returned the favour. It would have been worse if they still had guns, but the war before ours took care of that. We escaped to places that humans could no longer reach, high in the sky. We settled on the edges of cliffs and watched with delight as mother nature took back her world.
Humans who knew nothing more than luxury and pampering were finally having to fight for their survival and it was glorious. What animals still remained of this world flourished… I only wish that there were more of them left. Once again, the filthy humans took care of that. We’re meant to be at peace now. That’s what they tell us at school anyway. It’s not real peace, not really. It only means we aren’t fighting on the front lines anymore. Instead they hunt us down in secret, for our feathers and for sport. My friend Amy claims the Human’s who still hunt eat our meat, but that’s stupid. Of course they don’t eat us, we are unclean. Little experiments cooked up in a lab back in 2115. August 12, 2115. That’s the big day for both of our races. They day they discovered that we were real, and the day our genes first mutated. The day we took our first step towards what we are today.
My name is Ibbiana Grey, and I was born twelve years ago- in the year 2580. I didn’t come into this world alone though. No, I have a twin- Zoe. She’s the smart one, the brave one. She’s the one who will conquer our world. We look the same, as indentical twins tend to do. The same grey eyes our family is known for, the same dark red hair. In fact the only way to tell us apart are the freckles that dot our skin. I have three freckles that form a line under my right eye and she doesn’t. I’ve had them for as long as I can remember. I remember one time, Zoe painted three little mud dots on her skin in the same place as mine. Markus and Leena were so confused, at least they were until dad put a stop to it when he got home from work. We had to weed the entire garden as punishment for tormenting our brother and sister. Zoe declared it worth it. I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in years.
Weeding the garden took hours. Every family has their own plot and grows their own vegetables and fruits. What we don’t grow we trade for, it’s easier that way. We don’t eat what doesn’t grow. That’s what mum says. I like it that way. Human’s apparently eat meat still, I don’t get why – not like it’s sustainable anymore. I hate humans. I hate that we have to hide and I hate that they take our feathers from us. Dad says my flight feathers won’t be far away, that I’ll be able to fly on my own soon. I’m so excited. My wings are so big now, almost as big as Leena’s snowy white ones. She looks like mum. Dad says they all look like angels. I don’t really know what angels are meant to look like, but I’m happy for them anyway. Dad and Markus are darker, with dark brown and tan feathers that were black at the tips. The baby of the family, Simon is lighter than dad and Markus, and Elody’s wings are the speckled colour of a song thrush. She lives up to her colouring, with the prettiest voice among us.
I can’t wait to start flying. Dad can look me in the eyes again now, he even touched my feathers and remarked how big my wings are. He hasn’t done that in years. Not since… Anyway, I keep asking Mum how long it will take for them to grow, but she won’t tell me. It’s different for everyone, she says. But I remember that Leena first got them a week after her twelveth birthday, and Markus was ten days after his. It’s my birthday today and I swear I can already see them peeking though. I haven’t shown Mum yet, I’m kinda scared that she’ll say these aren’t my flight feathers. I wish Zoe was still here for this. She would have loved to fly…
I really hate humans.
Right, so there you go. A glimpse into Ibbie’s world when she turned twelve- a big day for Avians. Over the coming months I’ll throw up some info all about Ibbie’s world and who (and what) she really is, so stay tuned! If you have any thoughts pop them in the comment section below then go off and write something =D
x
H
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