i remember the day she came to school, looking over her shoulder, nearly tripping over herself.  i remember that we laughed at her because we hated her, because she and her friends oppressed us so.

i didn't realize what it was she was fearing.  who would notice it?  when is the last time you noticed birdsong?  perhaps, while trying to sleep?  perhaps actively enjoying it?

unless looking  for it, one never really notices it unless one needs to.  it is a noise ambient to humanity.

to this day, i do not know what she did to get the murder's attention.  to this day, i do not know why sycorax and caliban came after her, and brought my ruin in their wake.  to this day, i do not know why i decided to help her.  why i, unlike my friends, chose her over the birds.

i would lie if i said i have never regretted it.  there were other options for me.  i could have put my head down.  pretended it had not happened.  gone about my life pretending there were no monsters, that humanity is alone, in the dark.

sometimes i wish i had.  but then, what would her sacrifice have been?  i know of them.  i can spread the word.  tell her story.  i can kill them as they come.  perhaps i can even destroy sycorax and caliban--that wretched witch and her accursed spawn.  it would, perhaps, be the only revenge i could get for her.  the only closure i could achieve for my dearest cordelia.

and then, one day, perhaps i will be fortunate enough to die as she did, and perhaps, someone will take my place, tell my story, and warn the world of the shadows in our ambiance.