Cheers erupted behind us as we walked home. People flooded the streets, like birds soaring out of a toppled cage.

My mother flew with them then, singing songs of rebellion and hope.

Years later, she still sings the same songs, but fainter, like a caged songbird mourning the open sky.

Sarah Nassar is a young writer from Egypt trying to figure out adult life (she just graduated) and write at the same time. Her work has been previously published on 50-Word Stories, Spillwords.com and Literary Cocktail Magazine.