The Bird and the Map
A Fated Destiny
This home was beautiful and fantastical. While most people probably would have been asking question after question about why things were the way they were here and how it was scientifically possible for this or that to even exist, Peter had never been one for why’s or how’s when discovering wonderful things. He had always felt that it took some of the beauty and mystery out of it all. He’d rather just enjoy it for what it was.
The path they were on was a small dirt one that wound its way through the dense forest. Each step they took literally seemed to illuminate in the twilight darkness of this place. The plants on each side were thick and it was hard to tell where one stopped and another began. It was as if the entire forest had rushed head-strong throughout itself, just to pause and take a breath at this one point which then became their path. And the sounds were remarkable as well. They reminded Peter of sounds he had heard on the television when his mom used to watch programs about the rainforest in South America. That’s what his mom did too; she was a zoologist who focused her time on rainforest conservation methods. Peter thought she was a real life hero. He missed her often.
Just as Peter had thought of his mother and how much he missed her, Alice stopped in front of him and turned to look at him, searching his face for a mystery that was surely hidden there. Peter’s cheeks turned the slightest hint of red at this, but he finally broke the silence. “Something amiss?” She continued to stare for a few more moments, her face literally expressionless. But just when Peter wondered if he should go find someone to help her find her way out of the coma she had undoubtedly just fallen victim to, her face turned back to its normal, kind self with her slight, motherly smile. “Oh Peter, don’t fret,” she said. “You’ll have a whole new family here, and one day you’ll see your mother again.” She reached out an arm and placed it gently on his shoulder to comfort him. Peter hated when people pointed out his faults, or at least what he saw as faults. And he had realized that he would never cry until someone pointed out that it was going to be okay, and then the tears could not be held back any longer.
He tilted his head forward in hopes that she might not see the tiny tears racing down his cheeks to see which could hit the ground first. It was almost as if you could hear them sighing as they slid down to meet their splattery death upon hitting the dirt. But if Alice was anything, she was first and foremost someone who noticed things: she was a noticer.
On seeing the tears, she immediately closed the distance between him and her and was hugging him, rubbing his back with one hand, and patting the back of his head with the other. Peter was taller than her, but not by very much. At her embrace came his sobs that he had been holding back for quite some time, and for a while, his body was limp, but then his arms came up and wrapped around her tiny waste. And if there had been any doubts of whether he could trust her, those had been erased. So there they were, in the middle of this jungle forest that Alice called home, wrapped in each other’s embrace without another care in the world. And this was how it was meant to be, call it fate or destiny or something else, but the universe or God or whatever universal power had meant for Peter and Alice to find each other, and so they did. But this is not the end; it is rather the beginning to a long tale.
The path they were on was a small dirt one that wound its way through the dense forest. Each step they took literally seemed to illuminate in the twilight darkness of this place. The plants on each side were thick and it was hard to tell where one stopped and another began. It was as if the entire forest had rushed head-strong throughout itself, just to pause and take a breath at this one point which then became their path. And the sounds were remarkable as well. They reminded Peter of sounds he had heard on the television when his mom used to watch programs about the rainforest in South America. That’s what his mom did too; she was a zoologist who focused her time on rainforest conservation methods. Peter thought she was a real life hero. He missed her often.
Just as Peter had thought of his mother and how much he missed her, Alice stopped in front of him and turned to look at him, searching his face for a mystery that was surely hidden there. Peter’s cheeks turned the slightest hint of red at this, but he finally broke the silence. “Something amiss?” She continued to stare for a few more moments, her face literally expressionless. But just when Peter wondered if he should go find someone to help her find her way out of the coma she had undoubtedly just fallen victim to, her face turned back to its normal, kind self with her slight, motherly smile. “Oh Peter, don’t fret,” she said. “You’ll have a whole new family here, and one day you’ll see your mother again.” She reached out an arm and placed it gently on his shoulder to comfort him. Peter hated when people pointed out his faults, or at least what he saw as faults. And he had realized that he would never cry until someone pointed out that it was going to be okay, and then the tears could not be held back any longer.
He tilted his head forward in hopes that she might not see the tiny tears racing down his cheeks to see which could hit the ground first. It was almost as if you could hear them sighing as they slid down to meet their splattery death upon hitting the dirt. But if Alice was anything, she was first and foremost someone who noticed things: she was a noticer.
On seeing the tears, she immediately closed the distance between him and her and was hugging him, rubbing his back with one hand, and patting the back of his head with the other. Peter was taller than her, but not by very much. At her embrace came his sobs that he had been holding back for quite some time, and for a while, his body was limp, but then his arms came up and wrapped around her tiny waste. And if there had been any doubts of whether he could trust her, those had been erased. So there they were, in the middle of this jungle forest that Alice called home, wrapped in each other’s embrace without another care in the world. And this was how it was meant to be, call it fate or destiny or something else, but the universe or God or whatever universal power had meant for Peter and Alice to find each other, and so they did. But this is not the end; it is rather the beginning to a long tale.