Truly Lost

Sleuth

Sleuth
"Before we can forgive one another, we have to understand one another." - Emma Goldman

I was walking my usual walk down the campus sidewalk with my cup of tea in my hand. I had some work from my economics class, so I was walking to the campus garden. The garden has won awards for its beauty and most students overlook it. I go a couple of times a week and I'm typically alone. I turn to walk through the hedge archway with these very beautiful flowers composed of marigolds, roses, and tulips all placed strategically along the vines. The garden is quite large and spacious, so for a while I'll just walk around. I looked at hydrangeas and the blueberry bushes and even the grape vine that stretches from the far right side all the way to the left. I picked a strawberry from the bush and kept walking.
When I approached the wooden picnic table, I could see someone sitting down, but I couldn't tell who it was. I went over and sat down next to her. She looked up, and take a guess at who it was. Claudia, "Claudia? What are you doing here?"
"Why do you care?"
"I'm usually alone here and you're in my usual spot, so I care."
She rolled her eyes and looked back down to the book she was reading, "My friends ditched me if you must know."
"Ditched you?"
"Well, I guess it was my fault. I slept in."
I looked down at the strawberry I had and handed it to her, "Take this."
She shook her head but I persisted, "No, Will. It's ok."
"I'm real sorry."
"I know." She said with a slight smile.
"I thought about it last night, and I talked it over with a friend. I was so wrong not to hear you out. I shouldn't have let my anger cloud over me."
"It's not a big deal."
"It is. I was wrong."
"Thank you for apologizing."
I looked over at the book she was reading, it was The Giving Tree, "Do you forgive me, Claudia?"
She thought about it for a moment and looked over to the rose bush near the table. She got up from the table and slowly made her way over to the bush. I stood up as well and followed her. She picked one of the roses and turned to me, "I forgive you." Then she handed me the rose.
"Thanks, Claudia."
She went back over and packed up her bag, but she left out the book, "After you left, your aunt came back and showed me this book. She laid me down on the couch, and I was crying, and she got the book from the shelf then read it to me. She told me how sorry she was and we talked about the ordeal. She made me realize I was wrong. Every time I saw you I wanted to tell you how sorry I was, but I was cowardly. Then, when I was fourteen I moved in with my dad permanently and had to move down to here, Arizona."
"You may have been wrong first, but in the end we both were wrong."
"Goodbye, Will. I'll see you later."
I nodded and tipped my hat. She left and I sat back down and watched the bushes and vines flow and dance in the wind. I saw the windows fogged up from condensation, and I saw the cracked pavement dampen with the sudden drops of rain pouring out of the sky. I pulled out my umbrella and sipped my tea.
As I was walking back, I saw this bird on the sidewalk. It was trying to fly, but its wing was bent. I walked over and examined it. It chirped a bit, and I picked it up. With my hand I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone to call Mason.
"Yeah, Will?"
"Mason, I found a bird on the sidewalk. Looks pretty hurt, do you know where the vet is, or a hospital or something?"
"Yeah, I do. There is one on Smith Street."
"Thanks, Mason." And I hung up. I walked down to the corner of Smith Street, and every corner the bird chirped and shuffled in my hands. I pet the bird's head and examined it a little closer. Its plumage was white and a purplish-blue. Its tail was black with white streaks and its beak was a beautiful yellow.
A lot of people were looking at me, or the bird, I couldn't really tell. People stared and people looked surprised. I was very confused and I looked down at the bird. The bird's head was turning red, and fast. The bird chirped and whined. I took off the scarf I was wearing and put it on top of the bird's head. I started to run down to the vet's as fast as I could. The bird was now flapping its wings and moving around a bunch. I saw the vet's and kept running and running.
I pushed through the doors and walked in, demanding a vet to see the bird right away. A vet came in and took the bird from me. I went into the room with the vet and explained what happened, "So the bird wasn't bleeding when you first found it?"
"No, sir."
"So how did it start bleeding?"
"I dunno, it just did." And then he ushered me out of the room.
I waited for nearly five hours for the surgery on this bird to be done. When the vet came out, I stood up and greeted him, "How is the bird, sir?"
"The bird is fine. We are going to keep 'em overnight. Do you want to keep this bird and take it to a shelter, or do you want to surrender it to us?"
I thought about it. I don't know how to take care of a bird, but we are allowed to keep birds in our dorm rooms, "I'll keep it. Can you tell me about it?"
"I'll print you out a sheet. You do have to fill out some paperwork, and you have to pay the surgery fee."
"How much is the total?"
"You're looking at about $4,000-$5,000."
"I have some money from my dad with about $10,000 in it, so I should be able to cover it. Do I need to pay in cash or check?"
"Either works."
I left the vet and went down to the pet shop and bought a whole bunch of stuff for my little bird. I bought a massive cage, lots of food. And many toys. After realizing I couldn't carry all this back on my own, I called Mason. Mason picked me up and brought me back to my dorm and helped me set up the cage, "I can't believe you bought a bird."
"Technically I saved the bird."
"Yeah, whatever. Do you even know anything about this bird?"
"I don't."
"Well ain't that just promisin'?"
"It'll be fine. This bird was cuddled right up to me on the way. It already likes me."
"Yeah, if I brought a bird home my wife 'ill kill me."
"How's Tanya doing anyway?"
"Tanya's well. She's had a tough run at work."
"What's been happening?"
"She's a nurse and one of her cancer patients who's been battling for almost ten years now died. It was very sad. She was throwing up blood and stuff."
"Damn. How's she handling it?"
"She won't talk to me about it. Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and cries for a bit."
"I'm sorry. Tell your wife I'm real sorry about her. I always feel sad when I hear about people losing that battle."
"I'll let her know."
The next day I came back and picked up my bird. I read the sheet, my bird is a white-breasted nuthatch. My bird is a boy. I decided I'd name him Warble. Little Warble and I went down to my dorm and I put him in his very spacious cage. He hopped around and chirped a song, then suddenly fell to the bottom of his cage with a very loud and hurtful thud.