The little bird was perched up on the exposed rafter in the garage. A tiny bird it was; perhaps smaller than even a sparrow, with dark grey feathers.
At first, we thought it was injured; a broken wing or something. But it would fly from beam to beam if anybody approached it.
It would flap its wings and make a chirp, barely audible.
Maybe it is abandoned by its mother. Maybe it left the pack for some adventure, a curiosity, perhaps, and got lost.
We tried to get it out of the garage but it wouldn’t leave.
Stubborn little bird it was!
*** *** ***
The woman came in and the little bird started chirping audibly. It seemed excited, in an avian way.
Hey little birdie, she whispered. “Are you lost? Did you lose your mommy? The door’s open why don’t you leave? Take up to the sky you little foolish bird.”
Upon hearing the woman’s voice, the bird flew to a lower beam, closer to the woman.
“Hey little bird, are you my friend? Do you know me?” The woman asked softly.
The bird started flapping its little wings but remained stationary at the same spot on the beam.
“Who are you, little bird? What do you want from me?” The woman kept asking.
*** *** ***
We finally got a broom and started shooing the little bird with it. It would just fly to a higher spot or to a different beam. It seemed intent on staying in our garage. My girls said
“Dad, maybe we should adopt it.”
After many tries, we were all tired, the bird too. So we gave up, closed the garage door and accepted a tiny little guest for the night.
*** *** ***
The woman was now sitting on a step-ladder and the bird, just a few inches away, was on the ground.
“So, little bird, you’ve come to get me haven’t you?” She asked. “But where are we going? Is it nice there? You never told me who sent you. You never told me where you’re from.” She continued.
She must have sat there with the bird for hours, for centuries, for eons.
*** *** ***
The next morning, when we came to the garage, the bird was nowhere to be found. We looked for its body on the floor, but there was nothing there.
How could it have escaped, we wondered.
*** *** ***
Everything was still in the dark, warm garage. A body was hanging motionless from the rafter.
