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moment ago. I looked down and reached
    for the bird again. I became ecstatic as my leg moved a small step closer. They were starting to unstiffen and move ever so slightly.
    “Thank you,” I whispered as I watched it fly busily away
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    from me.
    Not wanting to take the chance I stood in the spot the bird had
    left me for another hour. I counted the ticks inside of me with my eyes closed, not caring if anyone that went by me thought me
    strange. I wouldn’t lose another precious moment to move
    forward.
    I lowered my face away from the sun and after I had counted
    3,600 ticks I decided to try again and this time my legs moved
    effortlessly. Opening my eye I smiled and looked down at them
    as I took my first few steps. I decided to move slowly as I did not want my legs to lock up on me again, but after a few moments of
    taking small steps, I began to walk as normally as I had before.
    For now I was okay.
    The humans bustled around me busily. As I walked down the
    hard, gray pavement I watched everyone I could without being
    obvious. Some were dressed more importantly than others some
    were dressed like me. The ones that wore similar clothes to the
    only things I had managed to steal for myself looked more
    carefree than the others. I couldn’t tell anyone’s age by looking at them but everyone seemed different and special in their own way.
    I wondered if they all knew how lucky they were to have been
    born in the same bodies they had their whole lives and never have
    to worry about withering away at any given moment.
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    That’s not something I think any of them considered and I
    wanted so badly to tell them all but I knew I had to keep to myself.
    Just because a child and a monstrous misfit had been kind to me,
    it didn’t mean that the rest of the world would be so accepting.
    Some of the last bedtime stories London had told me were of the
    wars that they waged against each other. Honestly I felt that I
    feared no one as much as her, but now that I was out in the world
    I wondered if I should fear them as well.
    As I approached a crossroads I winced with slight pain.
    Maybe it was because my legs had the chance to recharge, but the
    cuts on my feet from her netting were starting to hurt me more
    now. Adjust the weight of the leg that hurts the most and you’ll
    be okay.
    I had to agree with that thought. I waited for the others around
    me to move and I started to walk with a slight shuffle which
    alleviated my hurt more than I thought it would. I liked having
    these helpful thoughts, even if they weren’t my own.
    One thing I did know that came from inside of me and not
    from my borrowed mind was that I needed to find a place to live.
    I closed off any other thoughts that might be able to sway me
    from my new mission and shuffled along as quickly as I could. I
    crossed more roads than I had ever thought possible before I
    found something I would think could be suitable for something
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    like me.
    I stood in front of what appeared to be an abandoned three
    story fabric factory. Most of the windows looked like they had
    been broken and there was a colorful smattering of words on parts
    of the building. The closer I walked the more I noticed the doors.
    They were large pieces of wood hammered shut over the
    entranceway with the words DO NOT ENTER painted across
    them.
    I wonder.
    I put my hands in the middle of the doors and gave a small tug
    and the doors moved. Just like the windows in my prison had.
    Looking around to make sure no one was watching, I leaned in
    and gave a harder tug and one of the planks pulled free. I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself as I stepped into the darkness of the cold factory and placed the board back in place.
    Once it was securely fastened I glanced around me.
    There were large sewing machines around me; larger than the
    ones London used. There were also web like pieces of yarn and
    cotton that looked like they had been abandoned in the middle of
    what