Another chirp, and his warm little body brushed up against the crook of my neck.

“I want to live a life of respect and equality. Of partnership. I want someone to love me for who I am, not what I can do for him. I want someone who keeps his promises. Who doesn’t see me as a conquest.” I sighed and stared down at the pattern in the rock. “I want to be happy.”

Without warning, the bird took flight, disappearing into the trees. My heart leaped, and I stood, ready to follow his path. He couldn’t leave, too. I could take him back to Olympus, make him immortal, keep him as my companion—

But he didn’t return. The forest was never silent, with the rustling leaves, gentle laps of waves on the lake, and countless other sounds that mixed together in natural harmony, and I strained for any signs of his chirps. Nothing.

A sob escaped me, and I sank back onto the warm rock. So this was how my life would be. Constant loneliness, an