Once again, the sun had risen to welcome another day. Each night as darkness fell, Murdock paused to watch the sunset, keeping his gaze fixed on the last rays of light as they disappeared beyond the curve of the planet for fear that this would be the last time he saw them. He couldn’t bare the thought of losing the daylight once more. He chased the warmth of the sun south, travelling west toward the ocean to places he had never been before. He basked in the heat like a cat, his dark coat soaking up the rays of sun. Today, he had chosen to visit the Grove.

He looked out across the lake. The surface was smooth and clear, undisturbed as though it was a pane of pale blue glass. All along the water’s edge, there was life. Tall willow trees with bent boughs dangled bright green leaves onto the sand, vibrant flowers sprung up from thick patches of grass, their petals waving in the gentle breeze. The air was warm, almost hot, in fact, and the sun had returned just in time to welcome summer. The grove was far more beautiful than he imagined it to be, but something was missing from his fantasies. Was there not some Lady of the Lake to come and greet him?

There she is.

The creature was small and fair, pretty in a delicate sort of way. She walked with ethereal grace along the sandy shoreline, her golden coat shining in the sunlight like copper. A haunting sound reached his ears as she grew closer, though still unaware of his presence. She was singing. Her voice was sweet and ghostly, telling a tale of life, death, darkness and sleep. It was foreboding and ominous, almost as if it were a warning. Perhaps she would poison him with sweet words, offer to glue his shattered heart back together and drag him down into a watery grave. She looked to be the image of innocence, but looks could be deceiving.

Life wasn’t interesting if one didn’t take the occasional risk, however. Murdock stepped forward, brushing past the flower-laden boughs of a dogwood. “Beautiful,” he called out as he approached, intending to compliment her voice. He came to a halt in front of her, cool water lapping around his toes as his hooves sunk into the soft sand. Her eyes were a bright violet, seeming to glow faintly in the sunlight like amethyst. Her hair was long and smooth, the colour of blood, pouring across her neck and shoulders. Who, or what, was she? A siren?

“Tell me, what does that song mean?” The way he understood it, she was singing about someone. Someone that she had lost, someone that meant the world to her. Perhaps they had something in common. He would not think about that, though. He would not let himself think about her. Each time he did, it felt as though his heart was splitting into a million fragments, shattering so that it was well beyond repair. “It sounds sad,” he added thoughtfully, spreading his wings across his sides to allow air to pass beneath his feathers, cooling his body. Standing in the direct light of the sun, he was beginning to sweat. Like a solar panel he was soaking up all the radiation, though instead of giving him energy it was simply sucking it away.

"talk talk talk"

(Sorry for the late reply! I got swamped with school work.)