the day finally came

its a story of a father and the days he tried to put off as long as he could.

The sun shone brightly in the sky and what a sky, such a blueness to it , follow then with your eye gently reader to a copse of trees , resplendent in the green mantle of their leaves, like a cloak wrapped gently around it’s shoulders, swaying gently in a small breeze

Then let the eye dwell on the tall majestic tree in the middle, home to a small male bird, see him as he sat on a branch chased there by his wife and mother of his children, it had been decided it was time to let the children fly on there own but the father as most fathers are want to be, wasn’t sure, it was too soon, what would happen if and every time the mother tried to get the children to the edge to help them fly solo the father would find someway to stop them, once it was a damaged wing ,then a bad cough, he was fast running out of reasons until one day his wife banished him to a neighbouring tree to sit and watch , but when she wasn’t looking, he would carefully hop back towards the tree, stopping when she turned around to look , she knew what he was doing, but as long as she couldn’t catch him at it , well, no harm, no foul.

 

He sat and watched, his heart in his mouth as the first of his 3 children stood on the side of the nest , waiting with dread that moment when the she would step out into the air , no safety net, just the hard ground, he watched as she carefully jumped only to land a branch not to far down, he couldn’t help it ,he dived down to help her, only to hear his wife warn him off , “it’s fine” she said “she’s okay, just wait”  he had never been  a patient bird but this time for now he would bow to a mothers intuition, his baby jumped once more a little further down to another branch until finally she had the confidence and  jumped away from the tree , at first she was unsteady but then finally got the flight under control , her little wings flapping furiously as she tried to do it all, “ just relax “ he whispered knowing she wouldn’t hear him “ it will be fine” and with every fiber of his being willed her to fly, soon she  got her air legs, soon pulling stunts that he had only dreamt of, until finally, she alighted on a separate branch, close enough to have the security of the family, but far enough away to be independent, he watched as she started to build a nest of her own.

He took a breath and tearing his eyes away saw his next child stand on the edge, this one was different sure and strong within himself , they had waited until he was willing , this one would not be coaxed to edge until he was ready , they tried getting behind him and slowly pushing him , but he stood like a rock firmly and resolutely embedded in the nest, and then one day he announced right I am ready , strode to the edge and without a second look back jumped off , the father called out in fear and ran to the edge of the branch ready to jump over, his calls of alarm echoing throughout the tree and finally, he looked over the edge his eyes searching the ground for the body he knew would be down there , hoping beyond hope that he was wrong but expecting the worst . he scanned the ground and couldn’t see him and started to look all around,  he checked every branch  and leaf , his panic mounting as his boy was nowhere to be found , finally he sat down , his heart heavy and tears started to fall very slowly , small private tears available to nobody but himself, THERE, WHAT WAS THAT ? his head came up with a start, scanning the tree , he had seen something move , he knew he had, he stared at the spot as if willing his boy to appear ,
“please come on, you can do it “he said out loud, all else, forgotten , knowing he had other children but just for that moment that terrifying , heart stopping moment, time stopped, he stood as if in the eye of  his storm watching as everything happened in slow motion around him, until he saw him, standing a branch looking at his father with a rye grin, knowing how much his dad had panicked , his son looked at his dad and said “what?” and flew back to the nest, the father was tired ,worn out , emotional drained and any other words that fit, he knew that  this one would one day just leave and he wouldn’t know, he was going until goodbye dad see you later.

 

And then there was one , This one was different again, tall, strong self assured but with an insecurity inside that he tried hard to hide , this one he didn’t want to let fly because he knew as all fathers do, that one day this one would fly the nest away from home, explore new areas and see new things, things that the father had only dreamt of seeing.

Part of him wanted to let go, to let him fly but some small part of him knew that if he let go he may never come back.

The father hopped back to the nest, not willing to see this one fly before once more telling how much he loved him, he wished him good travels  and walked with him to the edge of the nest , hugging him once more, this time the tears streamed down his face unable to be hidden and he hoped that his boy knew had hard it was to let him go , he jumped from the nest with his son, flew with him for a short while and then turning away, left him to seek his own travels , knowing he would be safe but everyday praying to what ever Gods would listen, to watch over him and bring him back safely.

 

He flew to a separate tree and waited, waited for the tears to stop , waited for that little hole in his life to not be so painful and slowly made his way home,  the nest seemed a little emptier now .

His wife saw him slowly wing his way home, his head slightly drooped and his eyes a puffy shade of red, but like all good wives everywhere , kissed  him, hugged him and made a drink.

The father bird then knew his life would never be quite the same again, the nest would always be there but no matter how many other birds filled the nest it would always seem to him to be just that little bit empty , some thing missing like one note played wrongly in a concerto.