The Caged Bird

I sit outside in my garden, enjoying a beautiful spring day.

I see a beautiful bluebird perched in a neraby tree.

She flies from the tree and alights on my knee.

And sings a lovely song to me.

I am enthralled.

I cup her in my hands and place her in a cage hanging outside my window.

I think about the solace she will bring to my troubled soul.

But only sadness ensues, for she no longer will sing.

Finallly, I open the cage and release her into the garden.

I sit silently.

After a while, she once again alights on my knee.

And sings another beautiful song to me.

I finally realize that all of us must be free in order to be ourselves.

All is well in my garden.

Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure. ― Stephen King