Shatter-Me-PDF-Shatter-Me-Series-Shatter-Me-Shatter-Me-1-Tahereh-Mafi (1)

Instead, I ignore the desperation sticking my fingers
together and watch for the bird I’ve only seen in my dreams.
Birds used to fly, is what the stories say. Before the ozone
layer deteriorated, before the pollutants mutated the
creatures into something horrible different. They say the
weather wasn’t always so unpredictable. They say there
were birds who used to soar through the skies like planes.
It seems strange that a small animal could achieve
anything as complex as human engineering, but the
possibility is too enticing to ignore. I’ve dreamt about the
same bird flying through the same sky for exactly 10 years.
White with streaks of gold like a crown atop its head.
It’s the only dream I have that gives me peace.
“What are you writing?”
I squint up at his strong stature, the easy grin on his face. I
don’t know how he manages to smile in spite of everything.
I wonder if he can hold on to that shape, that special curve
of the mouth that changes lives. I wonder how he’ll feel in 1
month and I shudder at the thought.
I don’t want him to end up like me.
Empty.
“Hey—” He grabs the blanket off my bed and crouches
next to me, wasting no time wrapping the thin cloth around
my thinner shoulders. “You okay?”
I try to smile. Decide to avoid his question. “Thank you for
the blanket.”
He sits down next to me and leans against the wall. His
shoulders are so close too close never close enough. His
body heat does more for me than the blanket ever will.
Something in my joints aches with an acute yearning, a
desperate need I’ve never been able to fulfill. My bones are
begging for something I cannot allow.
Touch me.
He glances at the little notebook tucked in my hand, at the
broken pen clutched in my fist. I close the book and roll it