The miles beneath her feet were many,
but she felt as though she hadn't moved.
Head heavy as any stone she strove to keep her chin up
and her head above water, but she knew.
She knew that when the morning came
and the clothes were chosen
and her reflection had appeared in the mirror
that she would still be the same;
lacking
lost.

Careful to always smile as though she meant it
and act as though she wasn't half as empty as she was,
she wasn't even half-surprised to find that she had gone missing
in her own skin.

Trying to chase the light
she did her best to be smaller,
less noticeable even, than the wind,
but in striving to be light she never guessed
that she'd lose her feathers
and forget how to fly.