One of the women steps forward and thumps her chest as if there’s something lodged inside her. She tries to speak, her eyes glistening, but I can’t understand the noises she makes. She laughs and points to each of her sisters before her finger lands on me. As she does, I feel it – a sharp tug behind my ribs. Somehow I know that I once had a special relationship with her, as I did with each of the women. We hold one another’s gaze and there is a moment between us, a deep and powerful knowing. Even though we’ve only just met, I know that I once belonged to her and the rest of her sisters, as they did to me.

The women turn to each other, placing their arms about one another’s shoulders and honking sadly. One by one they turn and move away, each walking in a different direction. Their wings open and beat the air, taking them into the sky, and a moment later they’re cormorants. My chest aches with emptiness. It’s like there’s a knot of kite strings stuffed behind my breastbone and each line leads to one of the bird-women. The further they fly from me, the tighter it pulls. Even though I’m a different person now, the feeling of connection fills me with raw, ravenous wanting. It’s not just that I miss them. I desperately want to go with them.

A hand grasps mine and I turn and see Glitonea. She smiles sadly, as if she’s aware of how I’m feeling, and points along the beach. ‘Ka-low.’

I shake my head and she points again. ‘Ka-low.’

‘I’m sorry, I don’t –’

She sweeps me off my feet, her arms strong beneath me. I search her face, my heart beating fast. Surely she’s not going to …

She runs a few steps then opens her wings and launches into the sky. I cling to her neck, not daring to look down. When I do, the ground is moving so fast my stomach flips.

‘We’re flying,’ I gasp. ‘We’re actually flying.’

She raises her eyebrows and grins, seemingly surprised by my reaction. We follow the line of the coast and I’m torn between peering at the beach below and staring at her in awe. With her long hair streaming in the wind, she looks like a warrior flying into battle. I think about Tom, imagining what he’d say if he knew, and my smile broadens. I wish he was here to see me. Glitonea adjusts her arms beneath my legs and I cling to her neck as we fly higher, my heart lifting with each powerful beat of her wings. Something sparks and comes to life inside me, and I know that I’ve done this before. I was once like her. I too could fly.

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