The Goldfinch who loved

The first time Harrison's wandering eyes landed upon Mae, she was climbing a sycamore tree wearing a dress the color of a dove. However, one could hardly tell what shade of white it was because the Earth had made its mark on her by covering her garb with fresh mud from the previous day's rain. Her focused eyes fixated on the branch beside a nest full of hungry, chirping baby birds. 

Though occupied with his sketches, Harrison glanced over at her ever so often. At the time, he would have said it was to make sure she hadn't fallen or stepped on a weak branch, but in reality, she was the first thing to seize his short attention span. On another day at another time, he would have had trouble sitting in one spot for more than ten minutes, but time was always relative when it came to the two of them.

After her piercing green eyes met with the bird's wide-eyes, she pulled a small pocket-size book from her yellow rain boots, an all too unfitting pairing for the dress her mother had put her in. She had received the tiny pamphlet from her local aviary, a place she regularly visited with her parents. Inside, it contained illustrations and descriptions of different birds in the area. 

Her goal was to catch sight of all 36 birds in the book. As Mae eagerly flipped through the pages, the olive, dull yellow Goldfinch swooped in. Her eyes widened, a smile came over her, and she crossed one more bird off her list. There were only 11 more to go, a number that would soon be zero by the end of spring.

From the moment she saw the black stripes on her wings, Mae knew it was her cue to start climbing down. The unexpected other sets of footprints in the mud that belonged to Harrison awaited her return back on the ground. She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows while he nervously began to spout out gibberish. Mae laughed it off and darted her hand straight out as a sign of camaraderie, which Harrison met with his damp, timid hand.

At the moment, you can never really be sure when you're having one of those life-changing moments or the gravity each has. However, their hand connecting was the first of many moments they would share.

After shaking her hand, his arm returned to its natural position of being wrapped around his sketchbook. Mae, teeming with curiosity, inquired about what secrets the pages contained. He was reluctant at first. But with one look at her kind smile, his hesitation faded away. From the looks of his work, most would have assumed he had been practicing for years. 

The first page she flipped to was of the Goldfinch that they both had witnessed. Mae, almost instinctively, pulled out her book to compare them side-by-side. The drawing was uncanny to the one in the book. "I see double," she said while pretending to lose her balance. Harrison couldn't help but break a smile.

Then, without saying a word, she abruptly started walking away. A look of despair mixed with confusion overcame Harrison's face as he began to walk in the opposite direction. "Are you coming or not?" Mae said as she turned her head back. Suppressing a smile, he hastily scurried behind her. They gabbed about everything until they got to the gray stones leading up to her house.

He told her about how he was new to town and didn't know anybody except for her. She was so content with how he began to open up that she didn't reveal much about herself, but somehow she knew there would be plenty of time for that in the future. After that day they became the best of friends. They sat together on the bus, read all the same books, and got up early to ride their bikes to go bird watching. However, with time came the tide of change that washed over them.

Their friendship eventually blossomed into love, making the blurry line that was their relationship increasingly difficult to navigate. Neither wanted to be the first to confess their feelings out of fear of ruining their friendship or not having their feelings reciprocated. Thankfully, the universe tends to roll the dice on the things that truly matter.

Every year in summer, the duo had a tradition of going camping. On the fourth day of their trip, something had shifted. It could have been anything, from a change in the air to the current moving in another direction. Uncertainty about the cause aside, the outcome was unquestionable. They had just finished roasting marshmallows around the fire when Harrison burnt his to a crisp. Mae found this to be unexplainably funny and laughed so hard she fell backward off her log.

When her laughter fell silent, Harrison had thought something terrible had happened, but the stars had just taken her breath away. He got up, laid down beside her, and the two of them laid there quietly. That night they had proved that comfortable silence is unparalleled and underrated. They let their synchronized heartbeats and eyes speak for themselves. The dictionary wouldn't have done their love justice.

As their hearts beat as one, they began to mirror each other's actions. Simultaneously, they turned their heads towards each other and leaned in for a kiss. The first kiss of many that they would share. Under a night sky like that, it would have been practically impossible for anyone not to fall in love. Their lips formed a bridge making every emotion that flooded their consciousness understood by the other.

That day became the first day of the rest of their lives. That kiss was a reset button; they were born again.

On a fall afternoon in 1973, Harrison had arranged a picnic under the tree where they first met. He had brought a portable cassette player and the tape for "I live for you" by George Harrison. Every time that song came on the radio, Harrison would turn to Mae and tell her it put his feelings for her into words. He blindfolded her and took her to the spot. "Surprise!" he exclaimed. 

After Mae finally loosened her arms around Harrison, they began to dig into their spaghetti. Mae, of course, spilled tomato sauce all over herself. She began to roar with laughter, while Harrison just smiled and thought back to how messy and beautiful she was the first time he saw her. He scavenged through his jacket pocket and located a small black box. While she was caught off-guard, he bent down on one knee and held the simple, elegant diamond ring out in front of her. Once she caught a glimpse of the ring, tears flooded her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. She nodded her head profusely and leapt into his arms to hug him once again.

Once they became married, they quickly learned that their love would only get them so far. They needed to work on their relationship every day and wake up each morning and choose each other. The Earth had brought them closer together. Mae was able to study ornithology and dedicate her life to preserving the natural habitats of birds. Meanwhile, Harrison painted and kept a record of birds like John James Audubon. 

They had a secluded, humble house in a small town. It had a large backyard where they had several fond memories of playing with their children and zoo of animals. Having children only brought them closer together because they saw their favorite parts of each other in their kids. Children are an absolute version of themselves that take life as it is before they know what life is. They were able to catch a glimpse at who their life partner was before the world molded them into who they are now. Through time a lot had changed, but their love was unwavering. 

In a flash of lighting, they grew up together, fell in love, and became the catalyst in each other's success.

Unfortunately, by the time they had become the old couple who sits on a park bench feeding the pigeons, their time together had run its course. Their remaining days were spent on the porch sipping tea and looking out into the horizon as far as the eye could see. They had a good life together, making it even harder for Mae to cope after Harrison died. It was sudden and fast, like being punched in the face. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, but she was angry that he had left her on the Earth in a life without him. She had spent the majority of her life with him by her side. Sometimes she even thought it would be easier if the grim reaper could shake her hand because then she could be buried beside him. 

She put on the dreadful black dress that Harrison had bought for her for this exact occasion. As she was trying to put her pearl necklace on, she broke down. It might have sounded crazy, but it was just a reminder that he wasn't there to hold her hair back and that he was never coming back. She could hardly fathom doing anything after failing to do such a simple task like putting a necklace on. It had been eight days, two hours, and 49 minutes since he had passed. Yet, throughout all that time, she hadn't stopped crying once. She barely had enough energy to make it through the front door, but she knew she had to go to say goodbye since she never got the chance while he was alive.

"Our love felt like breathing in this crisp, cold winter air," she said to his casket after the funeral was over and everyone had left. "It's like the freeing feeling of my lungs expanding and air rushing through my frail body. Our love is breathing for the first time. Without you, I don't know if I can or even want to breathe anymore. Goodbye. My love, my life."

If she heard "I'm sorry for your loss" one more time, she would lose her mind. She knew everyone had good intentions, but it was like watching the solemn doctor come out of Harrison's room to tell her the dire news all over again. Then, the rain started to pour as if to cleanse the world from Harrison's soul. She intensely sobbed as she tried to make a break for her car but just ended up falling in the mud. She just sat there, with mud all over her raven dress, defeated. She thought back to the first time they met and how mud had blanketed her dove dress.

Then out of nowhere, a Goldfinch swooped in. She had an overwhelming feeling that seeing the bird was a sign that Harrison had reincarnated into a Goldfinch. She, for the first time since his death, smiled wistfully at the bird. Even in the darkest of days, Harrison was able to put a smile on Mae's face.