Watch the Birdie

Many kids preferred the red wing. Others preferred the blue one. A few unhappy souls tried to tell their friends that it was the same bird, which was mostly gold.

I skipped school that day, and every one like it that I could manage. Bright lights hurt my eyes terribly, and photograph flashes were among the worst. I also never liked cameras in general, and had to force myself to look into them when necessary. Come to think of it, several of my mother's beatings were inspired by my reflexive refusal to face one. But now everyone has at least one camera, myself included. And there is a small, twisted part of my mind that interprets that as "the cameras have everyone", as if they had any more choice in the matter than we did.

I wonder what I'm going to say to Humanity's Daughter when I see her, wearing the flesh of her mother over her intricate synthetic parts and looking for someone to breed with. I suppose I should apologize for my reluctance to look her in the eyes.