The Birds and the Peoples

Just a friendly conversation between two friends as one deals with a hurt heart and the other with a tough lesson.

 "Why didn't she find me?" asked Two. One and Two sat on stone steps in front of the ocean, staring out at it. The sun was almost fully down and the day was nearly done but the last vestiges of light still illuminated the sky, rendering it a soft pink color. Even as they stared the pink sky, the leg-acy of the clouds in the sky, the pink grew darker and closer to red. The waves followed one another into the sand. The sound of sea birds flying around, squaking and crying out, filled their ears.

One looked to Two, "I heard a statistic the other day. I heard that every minute and a half a child is born."

"That true?" Two asked One and One chuckled, shrugging.

"Don't know," One said, "but it's a staggering statistic either way. True or not, it's believable.. yeah," One thought for a moment, "It's not because I don't believe there are that many kids on Earth. It's not because I don't think children are being born so often. Well, to me at least. It's because these moments, these life changing moments, are happening all the time to other people and I'm not at all involved." One looked at the ground thoughtfully. "They're having these moments that are the most important to them in the entire world, that are everything to them, and I don't notice. Because these aren't my moments."

Frustrated at his inability to speak his mind, One looked over at Two, to see if Two was getting it. But the other was looking at One with a mildly confused expression. Sighing, One looked out, seeking another way to say what he thought.

"Look at these birds," he said, pointing towards the hundreds of sea birds out in the beach in front of them. "See how they move in two different flocks?" One asked. The birds, as if on cue, beg-an to fly around in two flocks. The flocks spun around themselves, unchanged by the opposite.

"See how they don't notice each other?" Two shook his head. "Alright, look. Choose a bird," One said, looking at Two.

"A bird?" Two asked doubtfully.

"Yes," One replied, "Pick one."

"Alright... that one."

"The one with the slightly darker beak than the rest?"

"Uh..."

"I'm only joking. I can't see that well either... look, just focus on that one," One said, "If you watch it long enough, you'll probably be able to guess whether it's male or female based on what it's doing, based on its size, based on its behavior. After that, you'll notice little mannerisms that make it a singular bird. Then you'll see that it's a living, sentient creature, one that has a mind and soul and a personality."

One and Two sat in silence for a few moments as Two stared.

"Yeah," Two finally said, "I don't see it."

One looked over at him and sighed. "Yeah, I don't either." Both laughed.

"Alright," One said in all seriousness, "see the bird still?" Two nodded, "Focus on it," One said, "You'll see that in its own eyes, it's the main character of its story. It's its own protagonist. The bird looks at itself and maybe one or two birds around it. The bird is living its only life and it is only noticing itself, really. Maybe, like I said before, it is aware of what's happening to the other birds, in a way, but even that way is only what happens to the others that has an effect on itself. That bird is-"

"I get it," Two said, cutting One off, "It's the main character in its own mind."

One grinned, "Now look at a bird in the other flock. To your first bird, it's just a side charact-er, if that. It's just another being in the world, a mindless creature that is existing outside of its story. It's just another thing in the world, no different than a rock or one of us, except that we can give it a fry or two," as One spoke he threw out a few of the fries they had been sharing. The small chunks of food landed among the sand and, as if on cue, the birds all angled towards it, squaking as they flew with a single minded determination.

"But still," One continued once the squaking and other sounds of bird flight died down a bit, "Even we aren't all that important to it."

"So?" Two asked.

One shook his head, "See that other bird, from the second flock? In its mind, it's the main character of its story, the protagonist. It's the one who matters the most and it has one or two birds it pays small amounts of attention to. And that first bird you picked... it's just a side character, a thing. That first bird you picked is still the main character of its story and its story will continue, having its ups and downs, its good things and its bad things. But that other birds will as well. And neither will even notice that the others are having ups and downs, bads and goods. It won't matter to either if the other finds a fry, except maybe that its mad it didn't get the fry. Hell, the other character might even be starving. And even if that fry saves its life, it doesn't matter. One of them didn't get the fry, didn't get what it wanted..

"And if it did get it, and the other was starving... well, it got what it wanted, it doesn't care that the other will starve because it doesn't know the other, it doesn't realize that the story of another character, another player on this stage," One motioned out towards the world around them, "May be coming to an end because of it.."

One looked over at Two, "And she's in a different flock than us..." he sighed, "And even though you really needed her to come to you... to be nice to you..." Two started to protest but got no real chance, for One continued, "and don't fight it, because I know you needed it. I know that smile, that half smile, and it's the half smile of a liar. But she wanted something, she wanted to go have fun with her friends, to get a fry. And the fact that you're going to starve because she got it, without any real need for it, won't change a damn thing for her because in her story, you're just another mindless thing in the world around her."

Two looked forward. One followed suite. They were staring at the horizon and into a surpris-ingly stunning sunset. The clouds, some a dark red while others a bright pink, moved in the sky as if they were dancing for the sun as it left. Both gasped some word of appreciation for the sight and for a moment forgot their troubles.

When the sun dipped below the horizon, all but ending the 'light show' of the clouds, both sat in silence and reality came back to them. Two looked over at One.

"How is that supposed to make me feel better?" Two asked.

"It means she didn't mean to," One said, "And that if you can become one of those birds she pays attention to, she'll notice if you need the fry next time." Two smiled at the comparison and One did the same.

"Think she'll share it with me?" Two asked.

"Depends on how much she wants it," One replied. Two nodded, then looked at the ground, deep in thought again.

Reviews

[MeathooksMcGee]

Great! Devoid of the over spiritualization that makes a lot of stories on this site unreadable.

[CapnKujo]

Thanks very much :) I appreciate that

[Robert Campbell]

Nice job! This is a great story. I think anyone who has ever had their heart broken may understand the metaphors you employ. Keep up the good work!

[CapnKujo]

Thanks. I certainly will and I'm glad you enjoyed it :)