A Bird Song

 Allison Mlcoch

English Blog 2

September 10 2020

Does Everybody Feel Like This?

I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is hit the alarm clock. Another day has started. But the first thing on my mind is I can’t get up. I don’t want to. It’s the same story all over again. Get up, stare at the phone, eat alone in an empty house, and go back to sleep. It’s boring. I don’t want to think about my problems and sorrows now. Does everybody feel like this?

I put my bed together, and positioned the pillows where they belong. I fed the dog, the birds, the fish, the cats. These are the only things alive in this house I think. I do the dishes my family left behind last night, and I turn on the TV with a bowl of cereal. This thing has no taste. The TV is grey and dry, so I decide to turn it off and finish the bowl of food in quiet, deafening silence. Ten minutes pass, and I go to brush my teeth. I put on a grey fluffy hoodie, and grab a blanket that brushes along my sweat pants as I drag it around the floor with me. The ice I walk on always numbs my feet the same way, and I regret forgetting those precious fuzzy socks I always wear that somehow always end up eaten by the drier. I can never find those things after they go in there. I walked by the windows, and noticed it was raining outside, so it looked like it'll be another day inside, cooped up behind a blue-lit screen. My phone suddenly buzzed that reminded me of work later today, the time I leave, my family gets back. I won’t see them again today. Guess I should do more chores. 

My feet dragged me into the basement where I did a basket of laundry, and put the clothing away. I wish I had a friend to talk to. My phone is like a desert thanks to the virus engulfing our world. It’s dry, quiet, and lonely. This house is too. I don’t like it. Just as I put away the last shirt into my brother’s drawer, I went back down to get another load of laundry. I was greeted by two cats in the basement, purring and rubbing against my sweatpants. One kitten, checkered black and white, jumped into the laundry bin as I picked it up. I took the basket upstairs again, while a silver back cat with black stripes and patches of white fur, guided my feet up each stair. I was then greeted by a big furry bear dog. This crazy animal seemed to like the humming I did, and decided to follow me as well, calming itself. I sat down with a sigh, here goes another load of laundry. Does everybody feel like this?

I suddenly hear pawing at the window. I looked over my shoulder, and noticed the dog wanted to go outside. I walked over and opened the door. The kitten from inside the basket popped her head up. Before I could close the door, the dog turned around and grabbed my sleeve. She tugged, and tugged, and my feet slowly started losing grip on the wooden floor. The kitten jumped out from the basket and ran over, and her older brother with stripes grabbed an umbrella, and pushed my yellow rain boots toward me. I took my sunflower colored rain jacket as I was pushed outside, and put on my boots. The dog suddenly let go and started running toward the road, and I yelled for her to stop, but instead she kept running. I heard banging behind me, and noticed the parrot busted the cage door open and flew from out the door, chasing the dog. Her paws hit the wet concrete, but stopped in a puddle and turned to wait for me. The kitten hopped onto my shoulder, and the other cat carried on a few steps behind me with the umbrella in his mouth. I chased after the dog, trying to catch up. We ran through the streets and through the towns, across the tops of buildings, jumping from one roof to another. We scurried across roads and through crowds, unsure of where we were going, but we continued to follow the dog. We ran into puddle after puddle, splashing them harder with each step and laughing together each time. The parrot sang a sweet song, flying and twirling with the wind. We slipped and fell on mud, and painted our faces with a paw print on each cheek and a couple feathers here and there. The rain fell harder and harder. We continued to splash around and run through the city. I thought that cats didn’t like water, but I was surprised to see I was wrong about them. What I didn't notice however, was the sky getting darker. The clouds got thicker, and the rain started feeling heavier. The air got colder and the wind blew harder. Branches were torn from their homes, and leaves shook but hung on for their lives. And then, Lightning. All was suddenly calm, all was quiet, all was still. And then Thunder. The eerie but destructive sound sent raindrops running down the roads and hid in sewers, to hide from the mighty angry spirit. The trees shook in fear and the wind howled of fright. Indeed, I saw the fear on everyone’s faces, and we all agreed to run and hide. We scurried into alley ways, just barely escaping the fierce lightning grabbing for our tails. When we found a small place to hide, we cowered together tightly under the small umbrella just perfectly big enough to cover us all from the rain and wind. The dog sat on my right, the bird on my shoulder, the kitten on my left shoulder, and the cat with stripes in my lap. It was then that we all realized we were wet, dirty, cold, and very lost. We were scared. We didn’t know where we were or where we came from. We didn’t even know where we were going. All we knew was lost. We slowly became sad. Whines and tears quickly accompanied the trickling sound of rain, as we all huddled together under the dark sky,  slowly engulfing us.

All seemed hopeless. But in our own sadness, we learned that we find comfort and education. Being sad, helps us know who is really there to make us feel better. It brings us together to show how strong we can grow if we stay together and collect our ideas to find a solution. I hugged the family band together, each of us slowly finding comfort. I then felt warm, and protected. It felt nice, it’s been a while. I wanted to stay like this forever. But we all knew well we couldn't stay like this, hidden away and never to be seen again. We had to keep going and find our way home or else we would never become un-lost. But I kind of wanted to stay lost, and never return to that boring life of mine. There was no point to keep living inside this place I called ‘home.’ With that thought, the strongest in our group, wiped off the tears from my face. He sat in front of me, and peered into my spirit with those bright green eyes of his. He told me that being a cat means knowing when to take the right steps to land on your feet at the perfect time. You need to learn to do things that are almost impossible for others, gracefully. some things you think, aren't always true. Then, the kitten jumped off of my shoulder, and sat next to her big brother. She told me that being a cat, you also have to learn how to fall into endless piles of clothing and have joy at the same time, because if you fell in every pile of clothing and saw it as something bad, you’d never learn how to have fun. You need to see the world positively. The dog spoke up suddenly, telling me that being a dog, you need to learn to appreciate the mud and sometimes in life you have to get dirty from all your hard work. But if you splash around in the mud and puddles, you come to realize that it isn’t all that terrible. If you get dirty, you can always clean yourself up after. No reason to be sad about how hurt or messy life got. It was now that the most important piece of words were delivered to me. The parrot crawled from my shoulder, and positioned himself on my wrist. He then spoke: “A bird shut in a cage, never forgets what freedom feels like. A bird in a cage will never forget what it’s like to fly, because they still have their wings. A bird in a cage always sings and repeats the same song over and over again for a reason. Songs tell a story, and a bird’s song, is to always remember who you are and to never give up on your hopes and dreams. You need to repeat the right words to yourself, despite if others think it’s funny or crazy, or stupid. It means something to you, and you need to keep repeating the same words to yourself everyday to keep going. Otherwise you will lose all your feathers, and you’ll never fly again. That is why a bird says the same words and sings the same songs. They will never forget. But despite how much they hate the cage, it is also a home to us, full of protection. A bird always knows how to find it's way home. So find your way home too.” he finished. I felt free suddenly. I wanted to get up, and fly, over the city and the buildings. I wanted to soar into the sky and travel back to where my roots were. I can’t leave yet after all, I have a family that is waiting for me at home, and a family I needed to take care of. The storm was wrong. Just because it looks big and scary, doesn’t mean it is always as bad as the weatherman says it is. The storm provides life after all, it really is a good thing. A bright shiny light suddenly grew around us, and the parrot said once more: “Find your path home.” 

I heard birds singing, and a warm breeze blew. Dark blue sheets covered me, and a pillow cradled my head. The light breeze kissed my face, as a big yawn woke me up. I got out of bed, put on some clothing, and made my way downstairs. It was then, I was greeted by a dog, a bird, a cat, and a kitten, all bright smiles and smirks on their faces. They were glad I woke up today, even if my family was too busy working to show it. “I’m glad I woke up today. I hope everybody feels this way.” I said. The parrot, bright and shining, gently flew over to the couch from his cage, and landed on my lap. It sang a beautiful song. Even though I couldn’t understand them anymore, I knew what they were all trying to tell me.

“Welcome home.”