The Bird Returned

She watches as her bird flies away, watches as it becomes a speck in the distance, and finally, till it disappears into the horizon. She wonders if it will ever come back, if it will ever remember home, and miss the warmth of her hearth. The days go by and each time she hears the chirp or song of a bird, she looks up, searching the sky for something that deep inside, she knows, will never come back.

The months pass, and she regains normalcy in her life. She stops responding to every chirp in the wind. She puts away the cage, the perch, the feed, and she forgets that once upon her time, she shared her home with a little feathered friend.

The years pass, and she hears a tapping on the window glass. At her window stands a little bird - looking similar to her little bird, and yet.. somehow, somewhat changed. She stares at the little bird quizzically, wondering.. could it be? It couldn't possibly be. She turns back to her work, ignoring the tapping on the glass.

The little bird doesn't go away. Everyday as she sits by her work, she hears the tapping at the glass, the chirping outside her window, and questions that she has long put to bed flood back. "Has it truly come home? Is it the same bird? Has it come home because it misses home, or has it simply come home because it's familiar? Has it come home to stay? If so, where will I keep it, because I've thrown out the cage. What will I feed it, because I've thrown out the feed. Do I even still want a bird? Could I even take care of a bird?"