There once was a little bird. She was a happy sweet young bird, feathers as golden as the sun. Everywhere she flew, happiness seemed to follow. A bright light in many other bird's lives. Everyday she would flit from branch to branch, singing her beautiful song, feeling joyful with life and everything in it.
One day, as she was flying around and stretching her wings as usual, a small dark figure caught her eye. It was another bird. Only....his feathers were dark grey. What an odd bird. He seemed almost grumpy. 'Well...I can fix that!' she thought to herself, flitting over to him and landing on the branch with him. She tipped her head at him, waiting for him to take notice. But he seemed to be in his own little world.
She let out a low whistle, wondering if he was just asleep. His eye slid over to her, uninterested. Did that stop the golden bird? No. She comically puffed up her feathers and did a weird little dance, hoping to cheer him up. When she looked back at him, she noticed he had just scooted down the branch and turned his head away. She tipped her head again, this time in confusion. Was he sick? What was going on with him? She scooted a bit closer to him again, this time more cautiously.
His gaze slid to her once again, still disinterested. He just let out what sounded like an impatient chirp and took off, landing on a branch with his back to her.
'What a grumpy individual.' She thought with a huff. But she was determined to help him out.
Everyday she would find him on his one branch, sitting and brooding, like a drop of shadow. And everyday she would land on the branch, and try to do something funny. Fluff her feathers. Do a little jig. Flap her wings like a crazy bird. Much to the same reactions. A disinterested glance and a back turned to her.
But boy was she determined. It eventually got to where the gray bird would tolerate her. And of course, the little golden bird would keep on trying.
On one particular day, she was poking him in the side of the head with a twig, trying to see if she could get any reaction out of him then or if he was nothing more than a rock. It was a rainy day as well so she didn't notice that the branch was slippery....as she went to move around and poke the other side of his face, her foot slipped and she found herself hanging upside down like a bat, giving out a chirp of indignation. And that's when she heard it. Just the quietest little noise from above. She looked around to see who else had joined them but saw no other bird...except for her friend. He was gazing down at her, his eyes a little brighter than usual as he kept making small tweets of laughter.
She couldn't stay mad. She gave a pretend chirp of anger and jumped back on the branch, whacking him with a wing. But they sat and laughed for quite a long time. It had seemed the little golden bird had finally gotten past the wall the dark bird chose to keep around him.
In the days following, the two became closer. Flying and exploring together. Finding out the dark bird was rather shy and would rather stay away from other birds, the golden bird would just fly through the forests quietly, just the two of them, exploring new areas of the forest.
Until one day...when everything changed. They were out on their normal flight through the forest when something glinted in the corner of her eye. She stopped midair, squinting closer. It was....moving? She couldn't resist. She flew closer to the branch, staring at the strange vine like thing hanging in the tree. It was dark...much like her friend but...something was off. The body was smooth...like black ice whereas her friend was more like a fluffy shadow. She crawled ever so closer for a better look when all of a sudden like the force of a tree branch hitting her, something struck her from behind and pain shot through her. She let out a cry of terror and took off, flying back toward her and her friend's tree as fast as she could, blind with terror. Scared so badly that she couldn't feel the pain in her back.
Her friend, hearing her cry of distress, saw her golden form flash by and he followed, wondering just what in the world had hurt her. He finally caught up with her at their tree. She was sitting on their branch, shivering violently. She had two thin streams of blood running down her back, crimson red against her bright feathers. Obviously a snake bite. Luckily not a venomous snake. The dark bird poked her, chirping to let her know it wasn't serious.
No response. Just a blank, terrified stare. Almost as if the fact she was turned on by a fellow creature of the forest had turned on her so bad...
She wasn't the same after that. In the days following, it almost as if she had been poisoned in some way. She sat on her branch, no longer flying through and singing happily. No flying through the forest with her friend exploring. Nothing. It's as if the life itself and just left her.
Her feathers even began to dull. Every day the golden sheen faded more and more, until eventually she was a dull gray. She sat with her feathers puffed miserably, head buried in her chest, blankly staring at the tree trunk while letting out an occasional shiver.
And through it all, her friend was there. He never got too close, not too sure what would help or harm her. But all the same, he was there, letting her know she wasn't alone in her battle.
After many days of this, she had seemed to hit rock bottom. She never moved. Never looked around. Just shivered and stared at a tree trunk, shivering if any wind ruffled her feathers. Many birds were beginning to worry she would never pull out. That she would lay there until her life finally snuffed out.
But there was one bird who never gave up. The same one she herself had never given up on.
On another rainy day, he was sitting on the branch with her, a few inches away, glancing back and forth at her every once in awhile to make sure she wouldn't fall off the branch or anything. It seemed silent until she randomly jumped and screeched in terror, eyes wide and chest pumping. She gazed wildly around, her shivers now deep shudders that tore through her whole body. For a moment she seemed to not know where she was until her eyes settled on her friend. He was looking at her, patience as deep as the ocean in his own eyes.
She saw that and ever so slowly scooted closer to him until she was pressed into his side, her shudders calming down at his touch. He looked at her in surprise but didn't move, as he would have usually done. He waited till her shudders stopped before taking his eyes off her and looking at the sky through the leaves above them, his eyes narrowing as he noticed the sun was beginning to peek through.
An idea came to him.
He nudged her and she slowly looked up at him and he began glancing up. As if some sort of signal. 'Come on. Let's go up there.'
Fear filled her glance and she shook her head, huddling closer to the branch.
He nodded and nudged her again as if saying 'You must. It's time to face your fears. Trust me.'
She looked up again, then back to him and seemed to prepare herself. She slowly stood up, shaking yet again and stretched her wings, wincing as her muscles stretched for the first time in days.
Her friend looked at her with that same kind patience in his eyes as she stretched before jumping up to the branch above, chirping encouragement.
It took her a moment, but she jumped up, ever so slowly. She was breathing heavily, her gaze darting around. But she kept going. The going was long. They took it one branch at a time. Stopping at times when she was too scared to go on. His patience and kindness was never ending, giving her the determination to not give up.
Eventually, the top was in sight. He stopped to look back, noticing his friend had paused yet again, staring at the sky with terror in her eyes, clinging to the final branch. He flitted back down and nudged her as if 'You're almost there. You can do it.'
She closed her eyes and finally did it. She leapt, landing firmly on the last branch. For a moment she sat there, her eyes screwed tightly shut until she felt her friend slide in next to her. She opened one eye and then the other, her eyes filling with amazement as she took in the wonderful scenery around her.
The dark clouds rolled on the horizon, the sun shining in from behind them and landing on their backs. She closed her eyes again, this time taking a deep breath and letting the warm sun soak into her feathers. Opening her eyes again, she turned to her friend and their eyes met, happiness and love in both of their gazes. With a happy noise she buried her head into his shoulder while he wrapped his wing around her, holding her close.
And it was then the most amazing thing seemed to happen. The golden sunlight seemed to melt into her, the golden color returning. But something was different. It seemed to pass from her into her friend, brilliant golden streaks shooting through his feathers.
They both looked at each other, amazed at the change. She was almost totally golden again, except for her wingtips, retaining their same gray color, although with a more silvery sheen to it. Her friend was still mostly dark gray but the brilliant golden streaks through his feathers made him seem as brilliant as the sun's rays.
With happiness, the two leaned on each other, watching the last of the clouds clear away and the sun shine brilliantly upon them, lighting up a wonderful future for the both....shining through even during the darkest of times. And showing that love can conquer even the most deeply rooted fear.
