From between the tendril-thin roots of a silver sapling, they burst forth from the earth, first beaks and black-bead eyes, unblinking. They hap-dash scrabble from clinging dirt, swiveling, twitching curious little heads and shaking dark wings to clear them of any dust. Then, one-by-one,  they hop-skip forward and shoot up in graceless flight to soar between glass towers that reverberate with their raucous cries, until the flawless mirror-pane shatters and falls, tinkling, back into the realm of dreams.