Phoenix

I breathed deeply, trying not to think about the probably hundreds of thorns in my skin. They stung, and hurt when I moved, so it was hard to ignore. I inhaled, then let out a shaky exhale. The Third Guard had already gone around to everyone else, getting the small but painful thorns out of their skin. Now it was just me.

“Turn around,” he said. He had a pair of tweezers and a Identification card with him, and a bowl to put the thorns in. I did as he said.

He started to take the thorns out, pulling them one by one. I hissed as he pulled out an exceptionally painful one. “Sorry,” he said, sounding concerned.

I made no reply, just clenched my fists, trying to ignore the stinging sensation in my back.

I heard the sound of something being thrown through the air, and then a thud. I heard the Third Guard turn around. I spun a little, trying to see what was happening. I saw the bowl that our food came in lying at the Third Guard’s feet, and Evan looking pleased with himself.

“I really don’t like you,” the Third Guard said, picking up the food bowl and putting it back in Evan’s cage.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Evan said snidely.

I turned back around, so my back was still facing the Third Guard. He went back to pulling the thorns out.

“I think you might have the most thorns out of anyone,” he commented.

I laughed dryly. “Wouldn’t surprise me. The Ringmaster takes particular pleasure in causing me pain,” I said.

“Maybe if you didn’t piss him off as much he wouldn’t be like that,” he said.

“Doubt it,” I chuckled. “He’s the kind of person who enjoys causing pain, pain without reason. When I was four, he started beating me more than the others, even though I had done nothing to him. I think he just hates me without reason. It’s truly a miracle that I’ve survived this long.”

“It’s sad,” the Third Guard said. “The average life expectancy of a Mutant is fifteen years of age.”

I frowned. “I guess that means I’m going to drop dead any second,” I said. I was seventeen, two years older than the average life expectancy.

“I really doubt that,” the Third Guard said. “You’re a fighter.”

I didn’t reply. What seemed like forever later, the Third Guard spoke. “All done,” he said. He picked up the bowl that he had been putting the thorns in and showed me. There was a pile of thorns, about half the size of my fist in the bowl.

“Wow. The Ringmaster really likes inflicting pain,” I commented.

“That, he does,” the Third Guard said before walking away.

I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep. It often seemed like we slept a lot, but we sleep more than the normal human because we need to sleep to heal, and it’s a way to pass the time.

***

I awoke when a pair of hands shook my shoulders. I opened my eyes, still groggy with sleep. It was the Third Guard who had woken me. “What do you want?” I asked him.

“Shh,” he said, looking around to make sure no one had woken up. “All I want is to show you something.”

“What?” I asked him.

“I want to show you something,” he repeated. He grabbed a set of shackles off the wall, then fastened them around my ankles. Then he unlocked my cage.

“Follow me,” he said, chaining the end of the shackles to the truck. He started to walk outside, so I followed him.

I didn’t see anything at first, but then the Third Guard spoke. “Look,” he said, pointing up.

I turned my head skyward and gasped. Usually, a orange cloud covered the whole sky, but above us was a rare break in the cloud.

Hundreds of white dots peppered the sky. Stars. I nearly cried at the sight of them. They were beautiful. I smiled.

“Are you happy you came out here?” the Third Guard asked me, smirking.

I looked at him and nodded, happy. I sat down on the ground and looked at the sky, laying on my back.

The Third Guard lay next to me, just watching the stars with me. I smiled, trying to find patterns in the sky. I saw a cluster that reminded me of a bird, and I laughed.

“What?” the Third Guard asked me.

“That cluster there, it looks like a bird,” I said, pointing it out.

He looked where I was pointing. “Huh, I guess it kind of does,” he said after a moment.

Maybe somewhere the stars spell out my name, I thought randomly. I don’t know what was with me; I was thinking some random things.

We continued to look at the stars, enjoying the rare occasion where we could see them.