The Bird That Flew

chapter eleven

On Sunday morning, Zoltan got up earlier than usual to get ready to meet Stanislaus. He quietly walked down the stairs and saw his father sleeping on the couch and a half-empty bottle of burbon on the coffee table. Zoltan's heart skipped a beat as he heard his father snoring loudly when he entered the kitchen as silently as he could. He opened the fridge gently and took out the bowl he prepared earlier, careful not to make any noise whatsoever. If he woke his father up, he knew it would not be pretty. He managed to quietly open the front door as slowly as he could and quickly locked it. It was not as cold as it usually was so he did not bring his hat. There was no time to anyhow. He knew he had to leave before his father naturally woke up.

He sat at the bus stop alone for what felt like hours. He knew he had arrived a bit too early. To pass the time, he began to pray quietly, after seeing there was no one around who could hear him. He put the bowl of food beside him and bowed his head.

"God," he began, his voice dry from barely being awake, "I-I don't know what to say. But I know I need Your help. My family is falling apart and it is all because of me and my selfishness. Maybe my father was right--I am not being respectful. All I know is, I never felt so alone and lost inside. I can't handle hearing my mother cry at night anymore. And I certainly do not want to sin against my family. Perhaps I should just accept my father's business in hunting and do what he thinks is best."

A cold wind came by and sent a chill through Zoltan, causing him to shiver. He opened his eyes and looked up from the bench and saw the bus coming from the distance. He picked up the bowl of food and held it close to keep it from getting too cold. He could not feel any peace or reassurance in his spirit, but he knew God heard him.

After the bus came to the right part of town, Zoltan took his time in walking to the church. He yawned all the way. He had woken up when he heard his mother crying in the next room the night before. He could not sleep until three o'clock in the morning because of it. It had disturbed him to no end. He started to think of how all it was essentially his fault for not following his father's footsteps in the family business. It would not let him sleep.

He was hungry, too.

When he finally came to the church, he slowly turned the corner and looked to find the old homeless man. He was sitting on the same bench he was the last time they met. Zoltan smiled and tried to wake himself up as he walked over to him. Stanislaus heard his footsteps and turned to see who it was and lit up.

"My dumme gans!" the old homeless man exclaimed, standing to meet Zoltan, whose smile had instantly turned into an indiffernet frown at his terms of endearment. He gained composure, remembering that Stanislaus was a man of humor. He was not so used to it at home nowadays.

"I brought you what I could. I did not have a lot of time and was very tired," Zoltan explained to him as he handed over the bowl of food. "I hope it is enough."

The old homeless man peered into the bowl and then looked back up at him. A big grin wiped over his face.

"It is more than enough. Thank you, son." he said, receiving the bowl with gladness. Zoltan smiled and then felt his own hunger. He had not eaten much in the past two days on top of not having dinner the night before. His stomach hurt and he felt woozy all of sudden, but he tried to hide it.

"What's wrong, boy?" the old homeless man asked, noticing as they sat down on the bench together. Zoltan smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing, sir." he said, with a yawn. He grimaced and rubbed his head with his hands. Stanislaus was not convinced.

"I know something is wrong, because you are calling me "sir" after I told you weeks ago I am of no such class!" he said, unwrapping the plastic wrap from the bowl of food. Inside was two wiener schnitzel steaks and one baked potato. Stanislaus noticed Zoltan looked away as he opened it. He then understood his companion was hungry. Out of all the times he had helped him and brought him food, he decided to return the favor.