My Short Stories

2. A flightless Bird

Warning: may be triggering.

Everyone needs freedom in one way, shape, or form. Humans use talents such as art or books as their freedom. Cheetahs run. Bunnies hop. Lions roar. Bees buzz. It isn't just their freedom though. It shapes who they are. Of course, if you lose that freedom, find something else. That's what life is.
As such, a bird flies. Someway, somehow, birds fly. Chickens hop and then soar. Penguins swim.... birds fly... All but one. One crippled little bird left alone to rot on the ground.
Each and every day, this little bird wishes that he didn't heal, wishes that he would have gotten eaten by a cat or something. He can't fly. He healed, yes, but he lost the ability to fly. He so badly wants to fly.
He had heard from a slimy slithering snake that if he gave up, he would fly again. He knew what the snake meant. He knew that he had to die. But he wanted to be like an honorable samurai and die the right way.
He was too afraid to do it though. Too afraid to take the final step. All he had to do was walk. That's all. Walk until he crossed the sidewalk and into the street. Walk until he got run over by a car with a driver too oblivious to see.
Just one more step. He finally took it. The last step taken, he waited. He waited and waited. His nerves were running thin. He knew that nature was giving him a second chance. He knew that nature wanted him to live, but he didn't. What's a life worth living if he's trapped to the ground, forever reliving the wish to fly.
Finally, a car sped closer. The bird closed his eyes, waiting. He felt a pinch. Nothing, nothing more than a pinch. He opened his eyes to find himself somewhere else. Everything was white. Then the sky appeared. The plants, the animals, the humans, as lastly, the ground. He wasn't on the ground.
That's when he realized he was flying. Finally flying. Finally. He tried to turn. Do a flip, a twirl, a flutter. Something, anything. He couldn't. He was stuck. Going straight forever, just flying. Never did he stop again. He wanted to. Too late did he realize what his true wish was.
He wanted freedom. He wanted to. Be able to do what he used to do. He had to be patient. He had to accept. He had to find other ways. He never got his chance. Because he used his FREEDOM to kill himself. He had always had it, he just needed to know where...