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“Is this --?”

“It is,” Denise said as the protective wrap loosened to view a face I hadn’t seen in years. Elena was grown up now. The tassels of her graduation cap tickled the top of my head.

“Maxine!” Elena hugged my porcelain form against the dark robe. “I haven’t seen you in years!”

“This bird has made the rounds through the family,” Denise said. She gently ran a finger down my smooth back. “She belongs to you now. Maybe she can keep an eye on the patients.”

Elena held the bird out, smiling. “Hello, Maxine. It’s great to see you again. But not in the office. This gift is meant for home.”

~*~

Home. It has taken multiple meanings over the years. Fortunately, I was discovered on a dusty shelf in the gift shop all those years ago, as nothing more than a forgotten novelty, something mass-produced for visitors who stopped in the small mountain town for the momentum of their travels. The young woman in the blue dress lifted me from the shelf and brushed the dust off my delicately carved feathers.

“This would be perfect for Grandmother,” she said.

A young man stepped next to her, nodding. “That’s beautiful, Alexa! She loves birds, and I’ve never seen anything like that.”

The woman smiled. “It’s small to thank her for the money for our wedding, but it’s something. Hopefully, we can repay her later.”

They did. I watched from my perch on the mantle as a simple life unfolded. Widowed young, Grandmother sat beside me, writing lesson plans for countless classes, practicing lectures, and grading papers. The years passed, the lines on her face deepened, and eventually, the light softened as she grew still. Alexa and her husband came frequently, first just the two of them, then a son, then a daughter. Grandmother weakened. She would disappear for days and then return, weaker than before. Alexa came more frequently, sometimes with nurses. The couch was taken out and replaced with a hospital bed where Grandmother lay, looking at me and regaling me with tales of her youth and hope for a future that she would not see.

And then she was gone.

I sat in the closed house, watching and waiting as the furniture was cleared. Dust swirled in the faint light glowing through the closed curtains. One day, Alexa, now middle-aged, gently pulled me from the mantle, wiped the dust from my finely carved feathers, and kissed my head.

“Let’s go home.” 

~*~

Now I sat on a piano in the living room. I was deemed “too important” for everyday wear and tear with two teenagers in the house, but the room lived up to its name. Life happened in this room every day. I was serenaded by Alexa, who was a piano player and spent most of her days practicing for concerts or giving lessons to children. Some of those serenades were filled with suffering, but she always relieved me with beautiful music. The sun was brighter because the windows were covered by shears. Alexa liked the light, and this home was filled with it. Then there were the holidays, with the sparkling tree, gifts, and laughter and smiles. There was nothing like those holidays.

And so the years passed. The children grew. Neither of them played the piano. They tried other instruments, but never mastered them. There was even an uncomfortable time with the boy playing a drum set and other teenagers with guitars. Thankfully, it was brief. Eventually, both children left. Then the man retired, and Alexa quit performing and giving lessons, saying the arthritis in her fingers made it difficult to play. It was time to slow down, she said. Enjoy a life of leisure. The room, still full of life, saw less of it as they retreated to the den and kitchen, and the music stopped. Then the man started coughing and couldn’t stop. He too would disappear for days, and then return weaker. A machine was brought in to help him breathe. Another hospital bed in the living room, where I would watchfully guard his shrinking form.

And then he was gone.

People came. They cleaned and brought food and ate. Alexa cried. The children came by more often to help. One day the daughter, whose name was Denise, walked into the den and picked me up as she was cleaning.

“Hello little friend, I forgot about you!” she carried me to the den, where Alexa sat in a recliner.

“Mom, look who I found. Wouldn’t you rather have her in here?”

Alexa looked up at me and gave me a small smile. “I would see her more often since I practically live in this room. Put her on the mantle.”

I was perched on the mantle, where I kept a watchful eye on Alexa. The days passed. Alexa brought in a cat one day to keep her company. The cat helped her, although I didn’t appreciate how it glared up at me. It’s not like I can do anything but watch and listen.

One day Alexa came into the room. Her hair had gone grey and she held a gift box. She kissed my head.

“I see how that cat looks at you, and I couldn’t stand it if he got up there and broke you,” she said as she wrapped me up and gently placed me in the box. “I’m sorry, but I need live company and you can’t talk to me. It’s time you have a happier home.”

~*~

“Happy tenth anniversary!” Alexa said as Denise unwrapped the box.

Denise gasped as she pulled me from the box. “Mom, are you sure you want to give me us? Derrick has a daughter.”

“Who is five years old and running through that house like a tornado,” Alexa said. “I love Elena, but this is a precious family heirloom and a home with a kindergartner is no place for it. You and Toby keep her. You’ll take good care of her, and I know you love birds.”

“That’s right!” a high-pitched voice squawked from nearby.

Is that a real bird?

A man walked into the room with a large blue and gold bird perched on his arm. The bird leaned forward and studied me, its feathers fluffing.

“Toby, look what Mom gave us for an anniversary gift!” Denise said, holding me up.

“It’s the bird!” Toby said, sitting beside Denise. The real bird leaned over to preen my head, jumping slightly as the beak tapped against the porcelain.

Denise laughed. “No Zack, that’s not a real bird. It looks like one, but it isn’t.”

“It’s time it had a happier home,” Alexa said, “and given that you already have one happy bird here, she’s in good company.”

I was. Of all of my homes, this one was the liveliest. Toby and Denise didn’t have children, but Zack brought an energy that I had never known. His cheerful nature and antics kept the home filled with laughter, and Denise was a spunky one She was an administrative worker but wrote science fiction and mystery books, so there was a lot of interesting reading and television in the home. Toby was a self-professed nerd too, working in the emerging field of computers, so there was a lot of brainstorming, discovery, lively discussions, debates, and ponderings as the sunlight poured into this home. I was given a place of honor on a marble table in the den (away from Zack’s cage), where I experienced the full energy of this space. One day, during one of Elena’s frequent visits, she peered up at me.

“What’s her name?” she asked.

Denise walked next to her. “She doesn’t have one.”

“You’re a writer and this bird doesn’t have a name?” Elena turned to Zack. “He has a name.”

“That’s right!” Zack said, bobbing his head.

Denise laughed. “That’s a good point. What should we call her?”

“Maxine,” the child said.

“Like the main character in your favorite book?”

Elena looked up at Denise and laughed. “I’m too little to read your books yet!”

Denise smiled. “Fair enough. We’ll call her Maxine.”

I had a name.

The world changed, and Denise and Toby grew with technology and experience. Elena grew too and eventually went away to college. Retirement loomed as grey hairs appeared. I think I learned how to speak parrot and a few alien languages. One day, Denise walked in with an invitation in her hand.

“She did it. She’s graduating.”

“Again?” Toby asked.

Denise smiled as she waved the invitation. “For the last time. This is her doctoral hooding.”

Toby looked up from his magazine. “Really? Then it’s official? She’s a doctor?”

“She will be soon, and she got a job here in town,” Denise said, looking at me. “I have the perfect gift to welcome her home.”

~*~

Elena brought me into the apartment, opened windows, and looked around for a perfect spot. Her eyes fell on a side table beside a recliner and set me on it.

“There. You can sit next to me while I read and do my research,” she said as she stripped off the robes, threw them on a nearby couch, and sank into the chair, propping her feet up. “I did it, Maxine. I’m grown up. Soon there will be a house, and maybe a husband, and we’ll see where life takes us.” She leaned over and kissed my head. “It’s good to be back. Welcome home, old friend.”

I took in the sunlight streaming through the windows, bathing a new generation in light and life. It doesn’t matter where they put me. With this family, I’m always home.