Day 36: What a Bird Saw

The Prompt: A bird is sitting on the wall as Jesus walks by carrying his cross.  What does the bird see, hear, smell? What does he think?

A little brown bird sat on a wall enjoying the warm sunshine of the morning. He found it a little odd that it was colder than it normally was. The sun was already starting to disappear behind the clouds, and he guessed that it would rain soon. However, he was not going to let the weather spoil his good day. He continued chirping merrily away. The bird's singing was interrupted by a large mob of people gathering into the streets. It curiously watched as they started yelling and watching something coming in the distance. As the speck grew larger and larger, the little bird could see that it was a man haggardly walking and carrying a heavy burden on His back.

The man was hardly wearing any clothes; some thorns were shaped into a circle upon His head; bright red blood was trickling down His sides. Each step he took looked as if he was using his full strength. Men behind him with swords prodding him to go faster. The little bird could see the pain in this man's eyes and felt so sorry for Him. He wanted to do something to help Him, yet he didn't know what he could do. Even though the bird was afraid of the men with swords, it flew closer to the man carrying the heavy wooden burden. It hovered over the man's head and flew with Him as he walked. Upon getting a closer look, it could see that the man's back was covered with painful welts and red stripes. The sweat was dripping off of His nose, and He was now barely moving His feet. One of the men behind Him yelled again then struck the man, making Him cry out. This almost frightened the bird away, but he knew he could not leave the man yet. It could not understand why these people were being so cruel to the man, for it had never seen humans act this way before. The man's mouth seemed to have been moving, yet no sound came out. The bird could tell His pain was unbearable. Then, the bird got an idea: perhaps a song might relieve the man of some of His agony. It opened its mouth and began chirping a high-pitched, melodic tune. The man's head slowly turned towards the bird; their eyes met. Slowly, a small smile crept onto the man's face. Happy to know its plan was working, the bird sang louder. One could see that the man's pace picked up slightly. It continued to sing for a few more minutes as the man walked.

Later on, the man could not walk any farther and collapsed under the weight of His burden. The men with swords started shouting orders to find a man capable of helping to carry the burden. The bird had stopped chirping by now, but it was still hovering above the man. He looked like He was about to pass out, but when He stared at the little bird again, He nodded His head again as if to say, "Your work is done." More people started coming, and the bird reluctantly flew away. It still watched the scene long after the man had been nailed to the cross.