The Bird With No Name
In my dream, I was a "bird with no name".
My wings were transparent like glass, and every time I flew, pale blue dust of light spilled into the night sky. Beneath the sky spread an ocean, but it held no water; instead, countless stars swayed like waves.
I was flying toward a giant clock tower floating in the sea of stars.
The hands of the clock tower turned backward, and every time the bell tolled, a color was lost from the world, one by one. The green of the forest, the red of the sunset, the yellow of the moon. In the end, it seemed the light would vanish from my wings, too.
At the entrance of the tower stood a white deer.
"If you go beyond here, you will gain a name. In exchange, you will no longer be able to fly in the sky."
The deer said.
I hesitated a little, but entered the tower.
There were no stairs inside; instead, several doors floated in midair. Every time I opened a door, the memories of an unknown someone flowed in.
A girl waiting endlessly in a snowy town.
A mechanical king singing at the bottom of the sea.
A giant continuously writing letters that no one will read.
Every time I passed through those memories, my wings grew a little heavier.
On the top floor, there was a small golden bell.
Beneath the bell lay a single plaque.
"To save the world, offer your name to the bell."
But I did not yet have a name.
As I stood there at a loss, the voices of the memories I had passed through echoed from within the tower.
The girl, the king, and the giant each gave me a single letter.
When connected, they formed a single name.
I spoke that name aloud.
Then the bell rang, and the lost colors returned to the world all at once. The sea of stars shone in seven colors, the clock hands stopped, and the morning sun rose in the sky.
However, just as promised, my wings turned to stone.
I fell from the tower.
Just before I sank into the sea of stars, the white deer ran across the sky and caught me on its back.
"Those who possess a name do not need to fly on their own."
Saying this, the deer began to run toward the dawn.
For the first time, I called my own name.
At that moment, I woke up.
But even after waking, a single pale blue feather remained by my pillow.
That's the story.
