In the Beginning of Me, I Was a Bird
ShortStory 5,446 words Recommended by 3 award/anthology sources
"In the beginning of me, I was a bird. A magpie, although I’ve since been a jay and a red-tailed hawk and even a big, black crow, crying tok-tok-tok at every passerby. But the magpie was special: on my first day, I saw those flashing blue wingtips, and I was myself. And every day after, I woke up and flew to a shiny window, just to admire my plumage. Birds don’t last."
Content warnings 1
death
Quasar links out; the story lives on Lightspeed, where the author gets the click.