Freedom: a vision; a vignette

I wake up in the sea. I don’t know how I got here. Who am I?
The sky is blue, spotted with white fluffy clouds.
I feel scared.
Turning my head to the left, I see a feathery creature. A waterbird.
I feel light, yet rooted in wet sand and foamy saltwater.
Looking more carefully at this creature, I see that descending down from its body is another body. That of a man.
He begins to pull his feet underneath him and rise out of the water. Feeling my feet I begin to do the same.
I try to speak—but a sound other than human speech comes out.
The man-bird opens his beak and squawks back at me. I realize he is one of me, and I him.
I begin to flap my wings up and down, and I rise from the earth into the air.
I am finally free.

originally published 2025.