Consciousness came and went for David. The toddler's brain likely couldn't take all his memories. Every moment of clarity came with pain.
Rikard and Sae lost many nights in agony. The child was born seemingly healthy, yet continued to experience pain, crying, as if a hot blade ran over him every day. The healers in their village could do nothing. No cause could be identified. Rikard even considered to end the child's suffering, only to be stopped by the moments of respite, the child's deep eyes glancing at his very soul.
There was only one thing that gave them hope, in time, the pain seemed to lessen. The convulsions became rarer and the moments of respite grew.
Sae had become a mess of emotions, lashing out over the smallest of disturbances, she had cleaned their home several times a day, every day, following a strict schedule of opening windows, soothing baths, anything, that could help her child calm down. She sang with her whole soul to put him to sleep.
Rikard had become quieter, trying to keep his family fed, focusing on his responsibilities. He had convinced himself that the child would only grow stronger due to the pain, that he would need to capitalize on this strength. He often visited the elders, planning for the child's upbringing. The elders looked at him in pity, but humored his hopes, to perhaps save his sanity.
The couple did not speak much, it was a quiet house, and when they did speak it was in a language foreign to David. He lived in a constant state of confusion, with occasional clear thoughts, but he could tell that he was improving.
Years passed and he grew, the fits of pain subsided, but gave rise to new worries. David did not want to play, the many toys they made for him were left ignored. Sae cried in agony, Rikard deluded himself that it was a sign of strength.
They could not have known, that the child was a grown man, who had better things to do than play with primitive toys. He was much rather interested in the world around him.
The cabin they lived in was not too large. Hay was used for the roof. The wood used to build the house seemed sturdy, but no tools of precision were used. The one thing that surprised him was the quality of the windows, they were colorful and the glass seemed perfectly flat. Even though they let light through, nothing could be seen beyond them.
Unfortunately, David did not get an opportunity to leave the house. Rikard and Sae seemed obsessed with keeping him inside. However, despite his curiosity, he had other priorities.
All that he could focus on were his wings, too small to be used, but still, wings that he had once dreamed of. He knew the wings could grow, or at least he hoped so. His father's black wings spanned to his extended hands, perhaps not enough to take flight, but enough to glide. He had also once seen a healer with wings spanning several meters, but the healer seemed to be an exception. His mother's red wings were tiny, not even reaching her shoulders.
No one really spoke of their wings, except for Sae. Unfortunately for David, she only seemed concerned with their beauty, rather than their function. They were quite beautiful, an auburn color, with reddish feathers here and there. For now, when extended, they only reached his shoulders. It took David a while to get a feel for them, it was no easier than relearning how to walk.
At night, David would dream of his Kawasaki H2r capable of going up to 400km/h. His poor love had perished, never to be enjoyed. He calmed himself, at least now he'd perhaps fly, but until he did, the nightmare would not leave him.
Surprisingly, the most trouble he had, was with learning how to speak. He had begun to understand the language his parents spoke bit by bit, but no matter how much he tried, he had trouble formulating words. Even basic sounds were challenging.
As he sat in front of a crude mirror, he touched his throat and started producing the sounds he could. The first observation he made, was that something was clearly different. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he was sure.
Thinking of it, he realized that his mother's singing was also strange. He had attributed its beauty to her talent, but, in retrospect, hearing opera level vocals in some poor village was a bit strange. Likely, it had something to do with human physiology mixed with birds.
It seemed, that his wings very much obeyed the laws of nature, and being part bird had its impact on the rest of his body.
With this realization, he started looking for changes. Over months David observed slight differences not only in his body, but also the actions of his parents. His father boasted a terrifying grip. In anger he had crushed a wooden cup into splinters. His mother showed an incredible capacity of predicting the weather, preparing for rain, days in advance.
David himself was a bit fragile. Children are not exactly paragons of resilience, but his bones even felt brittle at touch, and his attempts at walking had put a little too much stress on his joints. He had worried in the beginning, but his parents seemed unconcerned, not only of his fragility, but of his inability to speak as well. The most reasonable assumption he had, was that the winged children of this world simply developed at a different pace than normal humans.
Then the day came, the day Sae relaxed for once. She would usually sleep with David in her arms, awake as soon as he'd try to escape, but as he had been gazing at the mirror in front of him, she gazed at him with curiosity as well. Too tired from the years and months of worry and tireless work, she dozed off without realizing it.
David waited a few minutes, making sure she was asleep. Rikard was not home, it was his chance. At the ripe age of three, he would finally have the opportunity to look outside. The closest he came, was when his father would come and go, but his wings would cover the view behind. All that David could surmise was that they likely lived on top of a hill, as he couldn't really see any green outside. His mother would always keep him away from the door for some reason.
When she would leave, Rikard did the same, wrapping his wings around David, trying to keep him entertained, even if David never really showed a reaction towards his father making a fool of himself. Now they could not stop him at least.
He quietly walked towards the door, barely able to reach the handle. On tiptoes he slowly unlocked it with the keys hanging at the side. Quietly pushed at it, the bright light assaulted his eyes and then the confusion came.
In front of him were not some hills with a beautiful village, it was just a sky. Giant branches could be seen, with wooden cabins at the tops, much like his house, as he looked below he realized he must've been kilometers up high in the sky. The branches came from a giant tree, extending into many directions. The whole thing was magical, almost magical enough to let him ignore the reality that he had pushed too hard and fell out of the cabin, plummeting towards the ground.
"Oh, no"