In this cage...there was no afterlife... Within the birdcage...there were neither deities, nor captors... Life was simple and meaningless. Death was truly and bluntly, an end. The birds held captive in their cage were unable to escape, for no matter how starved or frantic a chick was, they couldn't dent steel with their soft beaks. Who could feed the starving birds? They couldn't even feed themselves? The birds, trapped in their infuriating prison and desperate for any food at all, celebrated in joy when a banquet started! Food for as far as their eyes wished to imagine!  And what a FEAST it WAS! The survivors stood over the leftovers of their meals, their ravenous beaks licking away the blood staining their tainted feathers. They knew this solution wasn't sustainable, and rather than waste away by praying to a non-existent heaven, they grafted their own Gods out of the bones of their former kin. "The Birdcage" is a world with a barrier made of an indestructible material at its edges, from earth to sky. Inside this confined land, lavish resources filled the fields for as far as one could wish for. Its inhabitants knew they were alone without company outside of their own kin. The world was peaceful and prosperous. An unknown cataclysmic plague swept the land, tainting almost all the natural resources and food that existed. The people, without an escape, nor a celestial being to pray to for help, resorted to the only food left in the entire birdcage….themselves… After the ensuing frenzy and in desperation, they improvised a chance for salvation. They created their own Gods known as, “Concepts,” that were the embodiment of artificial beliefs and ideas. They only disrupted the natural order further, leading to the present.  The world is fading away. There is no point in society, unity, or family. Either find fleeting, pointless purpose, or an escape from the nightmare of this reality. First time writing fiction, would appreciate criticism and ideas! (Also no cover art cause I don't like stock images/can't draw, sorry.) My work may appear on other websites just cause I wanna share my ideas however I can! I also don't mind people who straight copy and paste my stories either!