He reached out and touched the strange creature. He could feel its tiny heart flitter inside of it.

"Don't worry," the boy murmured, "I'm not going to hurt you." The creature turned its head and stared at him with ruby eyes. "My names Jonah," the boy continued, "but I doubt that you care anyways..." The creature's long, golden beak was dented and scratched and the small iron wings were shredded into pieces, but it still trilled the same song it had before. The song was old and sang by a man, but strangely beautiful. The mechanical device inside of it crackled and the golden beak opened with a creak.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star; how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky; twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are." Jonah sank down on his knees, transfixed by the sound. What was star, he wondered. He supposed it must be like the sun, but he had never seen any sort of picture of the sun. What did the sun look like? All the light in the Dome was man made. It was a harsh sort of blue light, and didn't like it at all. He would prefer a golden light.

Some of the elders remembered the sun and what the world was like before the government encased its glorious greens and blues under a large metal sheet. They would tell the eager children stories of the sky and the great ships they would send into it to travel places, of great and terrifying natural disasters like earthquakes that would shake the land. They would recall their favorite places to go, before the earth was changed to one flat mass of land in the center of the ocean, or their first time swimming in the sea, with the waves crashing against their bodies as they ran back to the warm sand. Jonah's favorite stories, however, were about the animals. The government had completely killed them off, and the elders recalled their desperate sobs as their dogs or cats or horses were dragged away from them. Noah shivered thinking about it.

He turned back to the strange creature as he thought about the elders stories. He remembered something called a bird that had the same features as the strange metal thing sitting in front of him. It was different in a way, though. The old lady who lived at the end of the street said that she had a pet bird, but that her bird's feathers were soft. They were brilliantly colored with yellow and grey feathers, and on its cheeks were two bright red spots. This bird was made of harsh metal and its eyes were cold, hard rocks. He turned it over. On its stomach was an inscription.


"To Meg," he read, "my brilliant star and bird." Suddenly a call broke over the flat, monotonous land.

"Jonah!" called his mother. Jonah broke out of his reverie and began to fill the hole where he found the metal creature with the misplaced dirt. He stuffed it in his pocket of his coat, along with his cold fingers. The billions of ever-shining lights glared above him as he began his mile trek back to his community. Jonah never remembered any of the lights ever needing fixed, which was strange since the small light bulbs in the city center needed replaced frequently. Light bulbs were a luxury, and only the mayor house and city center had them. Everyone else had candles made out of a hard wax that were sold by an official every month. The lights began to dim to show that it was almost time to go to bed, and the windows of the faraway houses were illuminated with the soft shimmer of candlelight. His quick walk turned into a sprint, eager to get home before it was completely black. He hated running in the dark. It felt like he was about to fall into a deep pit every time he took a step. He finally made it back to the city square. His next door neighbor, Megan, was sitting on the bench in front of her house. She was tiny and wispy looking, with pale skin and blue eyes, but very dark black hair. Her eyes trailed him until he reached for the doorknob to his front door.

"What's in your pocket?"
"Ex-excuse me?" He stuttered

"I said, what's in your pocket," she exclaimed. Jonah stuffed his hand in his pocket and muttered,

"Nothing."

"There's obviously something in your pocket. What is it?" What was wrong with her, Jonah thought angrily. She almost never talks to anyone, why did she want to know what was in his pocket? Suddenly, he remembered the inscription on the underbelly of the metal bird. To Meg. Did anyone ever call Megan Meg? Suddenly the door of his small house opened and his mother grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

"What's wrong with you!" She hissed, "Don't you know the officials are here? Do you want them dragging us to prison?!" Jonah had forgotten that the officials had come. They came at random periods of time to make sure rules were enforced. One of those rules was that everyone had to be in their houses by the time the lights were flashed. Jonah had barely made it back in time. The lights began to flash as his mother locked the door. Jonah heard the officials pacing up and down the streets with their strange lights they could hold in their hand. He suspected that they had some sort of mechanisms inside of them that made them not need to be plugged in, but he didn't know how to find out. His thoughts wandered back to Megan. Was the bird hers? Did she know that he dug it out of the ground? Suddenly a sound from outside startled him. It was the officials.

"You, what are you doing here?" One of them roared in a rough voice. There was a loud snap. Jonah crept to the window to see what was happening. Two officials were standing outside. The taller one was holding Megan's arm, which was now completely splintered in half at the bone. The smaller one asked in a gentler voice,

"Do you have any parents?" Megan shook her head. The tall one took charge again.

"Have you been living here by yourself?" Megan did not respond, but a single tear slid down her cheek. "ANSWER ME!" He roared. Megan did not respond. Her big blue eyes simply gazed into his face. He swung her around as though she was as light as a rag doll. "If you don't answer me," he continued through gritted teeth, "we have full authority to bring you to the Capitol and dispose of you there." She still did not respond. The taller one threw her to the ground and kicked her. Jonah had to put his hand over his mouth to stifle a sob. The smaller one gasped.

"Please," he begged, "please don't hurt her." The tall one looked down at her spat on the ground next to her ebony hair.

"I don't care what you do with her, kill her if you want. I don't have any use for her." Jonah sank down underneath the windowsill before the tall official turned around to see him looking. When he came up again, the tall one had left and the short one was placing Megan in his special car. As he drove away, Jonah could see Megan's head laying against the back window. He silently waved goodbye, even though he knew that she couldn't see him. Jonah's mother suddenly came down the stairs.

"Why are you still up?" She asked. Jonah simply stared at the window. She dragged him upstairs to his bedroom and shut the door. He suddenly remembered his metal bird in his pocket. Jonah set it on the windowsill and turned the key. It sang its song. Jonah thought that the recording was over, but then the machine clicked and the man began to talk.

"I love you Meg, no matter what. I'll always keep you safe." A girls voice came on

"Forever and always?" The girl asked. The man replied,

"Forever and always." The girl's voice came on again.

"I love you daddy."
“Love you Megan.”