Dedication:
Dedicated to all the people who happen to be a victim of any kind of abuse.
The little brown sparrow
A little brown sparrow sat on a branch singing with its little nestlings, celebrating the upcoming summer, when Sandra, Bill and their little son Robert came home to their new house for the first time. The little sparrow chirped loudly and flew cheerfully around them as they were unloading the van.
Sandra and Bill had been waiting for this day for a long time. They had been saving for the new house for a couple years. The happy glint in their eyes could be seen from miles away, as they would say: you can only have a happy life around the people that make you happy. They walked up the front porch and went inside for the first time.
One August afternoon little Robert was running around in the front yard and Sandra sat in the grass watching over him, laughing and smiling, and enjoying the last summer's sunlight. The squeal that came from him every time he fell when his little feet couldn't keep up with him and the low noise of the distant cars roamed around them in the summer heat. She had come home early from work to get Robert and herself ready because they had decided to go to the park after Bill was done working. Bill and Sandra had been working all summer to save money to pay the loan for the house and for the baby so they had been really tired lately.
When Bill came home he was in a sour mood and said they had to call off going to the park because he was tired and wanted to be home instead, sleeping and relaxing. He slumped down on the couch as Sandra stood over him with Robert ready to go. She waited agitated after him to stand up but decided to let it go at last and go upstairs to put Robert down in his crib. She watched him sleep peacefully and listened to the sparrows singing outside his bedroom window. She thought of her mother and remembered her saying to her as a child that your life is not supposed to be full of sad moments to remember but full of good memories to make. She went back to her husband to find a new time that they could go to the park together.
When she came back downstairs in the kitchen, Bill was making macaroni and cheese. He said to her that a real housewife should make her husband dinner. Bill stood over the kitchen stove trying to contain his anger, clenching his fists so they turned pale white and his face bright red.
Sandra then started to feel anxious around him, she felt like she would not be able to stand up for herself, like something bad would happen. All of the sudden the little sparrow started screeching loudly outside and flying around the house causing a lot of noise. Little Robert started crying and screaming loudly in his crib upstairs.
When Sandra went to get Robert, Bill told her not to walk away from him and start showing him respect. She wouldn't dare to do otherwise and obeyed him without any objection. She stayed with him in the kitchen instead of taking care of their son.
The next day Sandra couldn't go to work, and not the day after and the little brown sparrow continued screeching outside their house. Bill had never abused her, that day he lost control and couldn't not lose his control after that day. Suddenly he made Sandra his own, personal punching bag and didn't seem to notice the neglect, pain and hurt he was causing. Funny how it works, the people who love you the most can be the person who causes you the most pain. But if they hurt you so badly, did they ever love you? Could you cause the person you love the most this much pain?
One morning in April, when Bill had left for work, the little brown sparrow screeched so loudly that the whole neighbourhood could hear him, Robert was screaming and Sandra laid on the floor crying. She could not handle her life anymore. She had lost her job because she didn't have the courage to show up, she had stopped talking to her family, Robert was always crying and she didn't have any appetite so she had completely stopped eating.
She stood up from the floor, wiped the tears away. She picked Robert up, hushed him and fed him. She got her suitcase and packed all the necessary things she could remember, wrote a note for Bill that he would read when he arrived home later that day, and left her beautiful home and husband with only her son and a suitcase.
In July Sandra and Robert had a new home, far away from Bill that never contacted them again, they had started a new, better life together. The little brown sparrow sang beautifully in front of their new house.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Thank you for reading. I really hope you liked it.
With all the love my heart can give
-Kevin
