‘Why are you so sad?’ asked the flower.
‘I’m not sad’ replied the bird.
‘But I can see it in your eyes’ said the flower.
‘I guess you’re right. I am kind of sad’ said the bird.
‘But why?’
‘You understand me, my friend. You know who I am. You have been there to support me and stand by my side for everything bad that happened. Not like the others. My flock, they don’t realize who I am. They expect me to follow them and fly to a certain place at a certain time. But I’m not happy. I want to be able to just spread my wings and fly wherever I want to, whenever I want to. My dream is to fly to the places unknown, to do something grand. I want to live life, not steal the days…’ explained the bird.
The flower sat silent for a while. He knew what the bird was talking about. He understood her. He loved her and cherished all of the time they have spent together over the years, but encouraging her to fly away and be happy will make him miserable. But his love for her was bigger than his own happiness. ‘If that is the only thing that makes you happy, go do that’ said the flower.
‘But what does happiness feel like?’ asked the bird.
‘Happiness? It feels like heaven. It is selflessly giving to those you love. It is making other people feel happy. It feels like flying’ smiled the flower. Flying was always his wish. To be able to join the bird and be happy with her. But that was not possible, so he was happy whenever she came to see him, and that was enough for him.
‘How do you know how flying feels like if you don’t even have wings?’ asked the bird.
‘I know because you know. I know because I can see how truly happy you are when flying. I know because that is the only form of happiness I know of. And if you’re happy, I’m happy.’
‘You know, maybe I don’t need to go flying to the places unknown. Maybe I just needed a reminder that happiness is all around us. I just needed to go back to my sanctuary, you, to know that no matter how miserable I am, you always make me happy. To remember…’ said the bird and realized that flying is not the only solution. He was. The flower. So understanding, so loving, always. She saw then how unhappy the flower was every time she flew away. But also, she saw happiness in his eyes every time she returned. She knew that at one point she will have to go join her flock again, but for now, she sat next to him, her old friend, her love, her sanctuary and hugged him.
‘If you’re a bird, I’m a bird’ said the flower. And the two long lost souls were reunited again. Freedom and Truth.
By Jelena Jekić
