Suddenly, a
shadow cast over him. It was one of
those bald animals, and he was holding something. The little bird flapped his wings to escape,
but trying to fly out that hole had exhausted him. The animal caught him easily.
“Hey there,
little guy,” the ugly animal said as he looked through the net at him. “You don’t belong here. You’re a forest bird. Looks like I’ll have to take you back home.” He transferred the bird to a cage and locked
up his pet shop when he was finished with his last customer.
Petrified, the
little bird watched with horror as the animal carried him straight for one of
those shiny flying monsters. He squeezed
his eyes shut as it swallowed him, preparing for the pain, but was pleasantly
surprised when it didn’t start chewing him.
Instead it was moving forward. As
he rode on, he mournfully thought about his mother’s warnings to stay away from
the road. A few tears slid down as he
regretted not listening to her. He might
never see her again.
After a few
minutes, the shiny beast stopped, and the little bird saw the animal again.
“Here we are,” he
said, picking the cage up and dragging it back outside. “You’ll be much happier here.”
The little bird couldn’t believe his eyes. That was his forest, right in front of him! The animal’s hand moved towards the door, and as soon as the door opened, the little bird flew as fast as he could, afraid to look back. He saw the oak tree with the heart-shaped brand on its bark and landed on one of its branches, panting hard. He’d never been so glad to see a tree in his life. Once he caught his breath, he flew home, nervous about how his mother would react when she saw him.
“I’m just glad
you’re alright,” her wings wrapped around him tighter after he finished his
story. “God protected you.”
“I’m sorry I
disobeyed you, Mother. I’ll never do it
again.”
“I know you won’t. You’re a smart bird, and I think you’ve been
scared enough.”
He nodded
emphatically.
“You know,
though, that must have been some pretty impressive flying for you to do. You flew over the road and all the way to man’s
home.”
“I did fly a lot.”
“And your fast
flying brought you back to me,” she smiled.
“Maybe you have a gift.”
“Really?” his eyes shone.
“Really.”
The little bird
hadn’t expected that the most terrifying day of his life would show him what
his gift was, but he was happy that he finally knew what it was. He had to use it carefully, for his flying was
what had gotten him into trouble in the first place. However, if he used it right, he could do
great things. So every morning as the
beautiful sun rose, the little bird would fly out with his mother. She would sing the sweetest praises to their
Creator while he flew high, close to the presence of God, and danced in the air,
doing dips, dives, and barrel rolls, to show God how much he appreciated the
gift he had been given.
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