The Blue Bird

The old man handed me a photograph.

He said, “this is the only picture of that bluebird…”

“At least I have a photo to look at,” I whispered to myself.

But, still, the photo is very old, and I can’t even see a glimpse of the bird.

“It’s hard to find isn’t it,” The old man said.

“Yeah, it is, can you point where is the bird in this picture?” I asked.

The old man took the photo from my hand, grabbed his thick glasses, and started to scan the photo, and suddenly he exclaimed.

“Here it is! Here it is!” The old man was excited.

I don’t know if the old man was just acting out everything we have talked about the bird or if the joyous sensation of capturing a glimpse of that legendary bird is still present to him to be excited about finding something in an old and stained photo. He handed me again the photo and pointed out a spot at the upper right corner of the photo.

“Can you see it? Can you see it?”

“Isn’t that a leaf?” I was puzzled.

“No! it’s not a leaf, it’s the bird, that’s the tail.” He objected.

I’m still dubious if it is the bird, the photo is so faded that I cannot tell the colors very well.

“The tail of that is like a fleece, a cloth, that smoothly runs along tree branches. It’s very long and very big, it’s like a giant fan, and the color, It’s bluer than any ocean.” The old man said.

“If only I have seen it completely you would have believed me.” He added.

“I believe you, Sir.” I continued.

For over four years of exploring this rare bird, this is the only time when someone helps me out with something. When I was a kid, this bird, was the talk of the town. Many people show up to share their experiences with the bird. People claimed that they heard the bird singing and as the bird continue singing every animal joined the bird’s hymn, a lot of people agree on this, probably because this is the safest claim to agree on. Others claim that they saw the bird drop some of its blue feathers and when they are about to pick the feather it quickly turns into ash, people prove this claim by showing bottles of ashes that they said is the bird’s feather.

When I was a kid, my dream is to find this bird and make it is as a pet. I want to be able to look at that bird every morning, so I want it to be caged. Every night I sneak out of our house, I’ll snatch my father’s flashlight, roam into the forest, and look for the bird. I’ve been scolded by my parents many times because I roam the forest at night and because the flashlight’s battery always ran out fast.

I was sad every time I am not able to go out and look for the bird, I don’t want my parents to worry about me and I want to thrift my father’s flashlight batteries.

We are not from a wealthy family, my father is a night patrol to our village, he is stationed every 3:00 A.M. until 10:00 P.M. after his duty, his job will quickly shift to being a farmer for a land that we once owned. My father grows coffee beans, the farm was owned by a city businessman that bought the land we previously own before my parents were forced to sell it for my operation.

I have a congenital disease, when I was a kid, I can’t remember the turn but what happens is that my heart is enlarged, and I needed a heart transplant to save me. My parents, out of desperation, sold our land to a businessman that even have the guts to negotiate for a lower price and because the operation really needs that money my parents just sold it at a price very low from what it is worth. We lost our land from a farmer who farms his own land to a farmer who works on someone’s farm that chokes farmers with small salaries and short benefits. I never drank a coffee made from that coffee beans. My father told me that those coffee beans were sold very expensively and that the businessman they work for earned a fortune by exporting them. They smell good, my father said, better when they are dried and roasted, he added.

Remember the dream of mine to capture the bird, it quickly flew out of my mind when I realized I should be dreaming for my family. I grew older and older, finished college, bought back the land and gift it to my father, started my own career as an engineer, I strived when I was employed by an international company. Everything went well, I could say, but I felt something is left unfinished one time – That’s four years ago.

“Go on young man! Find that bird!” The old man encourages me.

I left the photo on his table, went out of his dingy cabin, and set forth to continue my search. It was the tenth forest I’d been through but there’s no sign of the bird. Looking for that bird never made me think that I’m a fool as a lot of explorers are still, also, looking for that bird. The news was scattered everywhere on which hunters are showing the public that they discovered the public but those people only fall into two categories either they forged the bird or they hunted down a blue macaw.

I need to find that bird, I may not know what’s for me, but I needed it.

For days I searched for that bird, I camped to any place I can, ran out of water, was forced to drink water from streams, ran short of food, forced to thrift what is left by eating fruits. At one point I went tired, strive without success will always make anyone hopeless. As I hike through the forest and the hope of finding the bird dries up.

“I’m tired.” I gave up.

I took the shortest route out of the forest, still took me days, and found myself back at the old man’s cabin.

“Did you find the bird?” The old man approached me.

“No, sir, I didn’t,” I answered.

“Oh… I understood.” He silently replied.

“Don’t lose your photo sir, your lucky you have seen its tail,” I told the old man.

I went back home, went back to my usual routine, hoping that just like before when I was a kid the bird will again fly out of my mind.

Driving back to my father’s farm one day, I saw something strange on the fence.

“Is that a cloth? A fleece?” I wondered.

“It’s the bird” I stepped on the brakes.

“At last, I found it.”