Elaine could smell the feces inside the cage. She peered out of the iron bars. The rounded ceiling and newspaper floor reminded her of the place where her bird slept growing up. This, of course, was before Elaine sprouted wings of her own. Now the roles are reversed, and there is probably some irony in it that she will not appreciate. Gazing at the bird and being the bird are different experiences entirely. She guesses this is obvious enough, but those that caged her see no distinction. To them, she has become a bird. Her identity as a human flew away with the first feather on her back. 

Now Elaine just sits in her little enclosure, pissing herself because there is nowhere else to go. At one point, they were worried she would fly off. Back then, they would not even let her beyond the bars. They clipped her wings, though, and then the problem was solved. She was allowed out after a full five days of experimentation. The little needles stuck in her and never left. She feels them prick her skin still. 

Elaine remembers the day she became a caged bird. Just as she remembers when she first discovered she was flightless. The morning before her transformation, she had smiled more than any time previously. Her cheeks hurt as she stared at her brother. They had walked together down the street when an oily black raven flew into her. It seemed as if it simply passed through but instead, it lay lifeless on the floor. Elaine and her brother stopped and examined the bird. As she bent down to look at the sad little thing, its wings evaporated. The feathers didn't fall off. They didn't melt or fade. It was as if they retreated back into the raven's body. 

It was a strange moment, but life could be strange then. Little irregularities were just cool party stories, nothing more. They floated around in your brain, and sometimes, late at night, you pondered what really happened, but most of the time, you just let them go by. Elaine wishes now that she could let her raven fly away. 

This isn't a party story, though. No, Elaine could not just move on to her next day. In fact, that morning, she could not move at all. Her back burned. She had gritted her teeth in agony as she sat up from her mattress. Maybe it was the weight lifting from Wednesday? Or playing catch with her niece on Saturday? It must be mundane. These minor inconveniences always are. Unfortunately for Elaine, this is not an "always" type of story. As she stood up, she knew this too. Somewhere inside, she understood what happened with the raven. She knew that it had cursed her with its tiny mangled wings. 

At first, the feathers were just barely poking out of her back, but within the hour, she had her own little set of wings. They tickled her with each movement. The oil spilled out of her shoulder blades and could not be contained. They grew and grew until they were inconcealable. She should not have called her brother. Looking back, there are many things Elaine shouldn't have done. Perhaps not having a brother at all would be a good starting place. Her brother burst through the door, phone in hand. He called his mother, who called her husband, who alerted the authorities. Elaine and her father are not particularly close. That is why he peers at her through the cage now.  

The men were immediately fascinated. Even before they tied her down and placed her in their cage. Some fantasized, "A woman with wings… imagine that." Others, mostly the women, were worried it was catching. Their fear was founded on relative logic. Elaine had caught this from something else. So they came in hazmat suits and made quick work of drugging her. She scratched and squawked and splayed her wings so wide as if she might leap out the window and fly away. It is not that simple, however. Flying hurts if you have not practiced, I should know. 

Elaine did not know this. She jumped but went nowhere except the ground. She lay sprawled like the raven before her, like me. But unlike me, her wings did not disappear. The scientists scooped her up and locked her away. She remains here in this cage. However, Elaine is beginning to realize now that her transformation is not complete. 

The scientists have been too afraid to check on her for a few days now, if they had, they might have noticed the talons growing in her shoes. She is shrinking. Shriviling into the raven herself. It does not end with the wings. She will be born again. She will birth it. Stepping out of the egg like the Birth of Venus. A raven born anew. 

That is how the gift works. I, too, was Elaine. A bird flew to me, and I woke up the next morning believing myself to be cursed. Unlike this foolish bird, though, I called no one. I am not naive like Elaine. I knew what they would do to me. So I hid for days on end. Until I knew I was no longer human. That is when I jumped out of my window. The inky blackness of my back absorbed the first heat it felt faster than any skin. I soared above the city. Flying is exactly like the storybooks. 

Elaine will discover that freedom too. She has completed the change now, and her feathers have regrown. Her father understands what has happened too late this time. And Elaine finally knows what to do. She does not thrash or scream anymore. Those are human reactions. She is a raven. Her wings spread wide, and Elaine began to fly. Beating hard, she catches air and escapes the disgusting enclosure. I see her leave the lab as I sit in my car. I will her to understand. "All it takes is fear, Elaine, and you will be new once more."