She sat perched on the edge of a building overlooking her poor, rundown city. She thought of it as her own because she’d been there so long and couldn’t imagine that anyone could have seen the types of things she’d seen. Her once-beautiful wings drooped down over her shoulders, hanging limply out to the sides; they’d long since faded to grey and darkened more day by day. She couldn’t remember when they’d been brilliant white, or when they’d begun their change. It didn’t bother her much as she surveyed her shimmering streets and quaking buildings.

There had been a time before “this” – a time before “now.” She remembered it vaguely, like images from a dream. Or maybe it was a dream of a dream; she couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t even sure of what this “now” was. Could this have been reality? It had to be at least in part because her ass was getting real cold sitting there on that concrete overhang.

She stood and spread her wings, readied for the fall. A light jump sent her rushing over the side of the building and soaring down over the streets. The wind played games with her hair and she reveled in the feeling. This was “real.” She looked down on the men with their beloved pachinko machines; envied their intense gazes; yearned for their soft hands. She soon left them behind to their games. Games everyone played.

She was looking for something. She didn’t know what it was yet, but she knew that she’d recognize it when she saw it. It would be shining, like a diamond in the rough. That’s what she’d always been told, so she knew it had to be this way. The bums in the street grinned up at her – they were the "rough", but she saw no diamond. Not even a crystal. It seemed like she’d been looking so long. But she couldn’t remember “before” so continued in this “now”, dreaming of a “someday.”

A song carried on the night breeze. She followed it to a club with flashing lights. She alighted on its neon sign and watched the people as they entered, sometimes “together” and sometimes “alone.” Something pulled in her chest as she watched them. Those people had something she didn’t. It was something she was desperate for, but couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Something in their faces ran its hand across her heartstrings. Some of the men grinned up at her and waved for her to join them, but she just tossed her head, wondering what they were getting at. That wasn’t what she was looking for, surely.

Her dark wings sagged even lower – below her ankles – and she let out a sigh. She couldn’t remember why she’d come to that place. She couldn’t remember much of anything anymore. She wanted to leave, but there was no place to go, and after a while she forgot what her black wings were even for. So she sat there, looking at the night sky, which was so bright as to hide the stars that she didn’t even know were there.

A sign flashed across the street: “Another lost soul.” She didn’t get what it could mean. Was there a soul that could be “found”? There was an image of fire. It was pretty. She sat heavily on her own sign, keeping an eye out for…

…something.