A brightly colored blue macaw that hung in a cage placed next to a window kept glancing out into the gloomy world on the other side of the glass.
The bird had a bandage wrapped around its left wing to prevent it from attempting to fly while it was recovering from a catastrophic incident. Its owner, a boy of 17 years, was at school and wouldn't be back until much later.
The time was 10:53 A.M.
As the bird looked out the window once again, it noticed an angry group of clouds with an occasional burst of light emitting copious amounts of energy from within. As the ominous dark clouds flew through the sky, they obscured the sun's rays and prevented any light from shining on the lugubrious town below.
The month was February and the town was known as Mogayolds, an isolated settlement that was seen by all but visited by none.
The town could be found off to the side of a large state highway that cut through the lonely plains of Kentucky. Up to half a million people drove on the highway daily, with only a small portion belonging to the capacity of the city. The city had a population of 20,000 or less, no one really knew. The last census had been taken over 50 years ago. Things were falling apart.
The bird finally turned its gaze away from the window, and examined the adorned room that it was confined in. There were gargantuan amounts of paper diffused all over the squalid room, preventing anyone from seeing the beautiful fastidious textures engraved on the carpet that the mess rested on. The walls had the same decoration as well; Hundreds of school papers and grades lined the wall in a dilapidated manner preventing anyone from seeing the intrinsic and scintillating drawings of birds flying graciously through a blue sky.
The bird longed to fly with these birds, free from society and free from the harm of others. The bird wanted to escape. It had to escape.
Even though its wing was still in recovery, the bird slipped out of its bandage with ease. It stretched both of its wings cautiously and immediately felt a burst of pain shooting through its right wing. The injury in its right wing was still in pain, but the bird was ready.
After unhooking the bolt that kept the cage shut, the bird walked to the opposite side of the room to an open window that was only covered with a weak screen. After knocking the screen out of the window frame, the bird was ready.
The last time that it had flown gracefully through the sky was a week ago, before its owner wrapped the bandage around its wing in a caring manner and left it in its cage. The bird did some more practice flaps, ignoring the excruciating pain that kept on shooting through its right wing. After 5 minutes it was ready.
The bird leaped out the window.
It flapped its wings as hard as it could.
The rain was pelting its feathers now, lightning crackling across the sky.
The winds were becoming stronger, blowing the frangible bird back towards the ground.
But the bird prevailed.
"You can't stop me, wind! I am free! I am happy! I am Eref, the unstoppable!
The bird flew higher and higher, higher than it had ever flown before. As all of the other birds hid under any shelter that they could find, they watched in fascination as Eref flew into the deep abyss of the storm. Some of the birds thought Eref as stupid. Others admired him for his bravery and his courage. But the overall deduction was that he was exonerated from his bleak life.
As Eref flew higher into the sky, he passed even the highest of birds. He gleamed at them as he flew by exclaiming he was free. He passed helicopters with news reporters reporting the tempestuous weather. He passed planes that were landing at the nearest airports in order to prevent catastrophe. He flew directly into the heart of the storm; an enormous mass of electricity and water that blocked the suns rays even ten miles from the ground.
As Eref flew even higher, he felt the air pressure change around him. His breathing was more rapid due to the lack of oxygen, but he didn't care. He was happy. The world beneath him was beautiful, even if it was concealed by darkness.
But where was Eref truly happy?
Eref felt free, freer than every before. But he didn't belong. He was only free over looking the world, not in a condescending manner, but in a sad manner. He was free only when isolated from all others. He was free away from everything that he knew, but he was happy.
* * *
As the storm subsided, the birds all looked in wonder at the spot that they saw Eref shoot through the clouds. No one saw Eref fly back down. But everyone saw Eref collapse out of the sky.
His wings had finally given away.
He was tired, so tired that he just wanted to rest.
His wings were burning and the sky was blue now. Absolutely beautiful.
Eref was almost to the ground now, but he wasn't alarmed. He was happy now, happier than he had ever been before. No words could describe the bliss that he was in.
He was free...
