The
Bird
Once
a upon a time, a long time ago, I was going along and minding my own
business when I spotted a bird. The
reason that I noticed this bird over the others was because of its
brightly colored feathers and beautiful singing voice.
From then on I used to travel that route everyday just to see and
hear this bird.
Out of curiosity one day I brought a treat and offered it to the
bird. At first she was shy
and would not approach me. I
persevered and slowly the bird got closer and closer until one day she
started to eat out of my hand. I
had gained her trust. From
then on whenever I came, she would land on my shoulder.
As the seasons changed and winter came upon us I worried for the
beautiful creature. I picked
her up and held her under my coat one very cold day and she understood
that I was trying to protect her. I
took her to my warm home.
She enjoyed the warmth and comfort of our house and would flutter
about and sing at all hours. She
truly enjoyed living with me. Through
out the years we became inseparable.
Almost everywhere I went she would go to, right beside me, on my
shoulder. I would tell her of
all the nice sights I saw and she would sing to me, in her beautiful
voice, of what she saw.
One day she became very sick.
I picked her up and took her to the doctor.
After a while the doctor came out and told me she was dying and
there was nothing he could do to save her life.
He let me come into her room and I stayed with her until she passed
away. On my way home I
though of all the times we had been together and all the things we had
done. Along the road I saw a
pretty flowered bush and started to tell her how much I liked it.
I suddenly realized how much I was going to miss her.
When I arrived home, it didn’t seem like home anymore without her
presence. I walked from room
to room but they were all the same. I
put on my hat and returned to the place where I first met her, in a way I
was hoping that she might be there. As
I slowly walked home it finally and truly came to me that I had lost my
bird. All that I would have
left of her were my memories of us together. Even though I still live, I will miss her to the end of my days. I hope she knew how much I loved her.
Copyright 2001 Barry Graves |