David sat in the middle of the field, his arms limp by his side. Tall grass swayed above him, birds danced in the breeze. He would have laughed if he could. He even would have cried. The chisel belonged here. It was happy to do its duty, stuck in the earth. David was not happy. He wanted to be free. Walking was no good. He needed to fly, or there was no point to it at all.

He lay back to watch the birds. They knew how to escape. He needed to build, but he needed to smile. How could he smile without teeth? How could he laugh while he slaved away?

His arms. That was where he should start. He couldn’t fly with arms. It was so obvious once he thought of it. If he didn’t have arms he couldn’t work. Then he could laugh. He would worry about the tears later.

David wrapped the fabric of his left arm around the right and pulled. The stitches gave with only a little work. They had been sewn too close to the cloth’s edge. David spun about with the force of it. He dropped his right arm and rolled away in the same action so the runes of repair could not snare him.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Now David had a problem. He needed his right arm to remove his left. He tried to wrap his legs around his arm, but they couldn’t reach. He considered removing his legs with his arm, but he needed those. Birds used their legs to fly.

One was flying toward him on its yellow legs. A raven. It landed beside him, head cocked, one large amber eye staring down. David tried to wave, but his arm was missing.

The raven opened its beak. It didn’t have teeth either. It flipped David over and pecked at his back, trying to tug loose a bit of wool. David’s runes of repair pulled the wool back into place. The raven let out a surprised ‘Caw!’ and hopped backwards.

Its cry alerted a second raven, who, thinking David to be something the first raven wanted, swooped down and picked him up in its beak. Then it took to the skies, circling higher and higher. David turned his head to get a better look. The raven dropped him, surprised.

David nearly laughed this time.

He was flying.

He was free.