The Bird in the Forest

 There was once a bird who found herself trapped underneath a thick canopy of forest trees. It was a horrible feeling because up until that very morning, the trees had always been her friends. To fly beneath them for shelter and then find oneself hidden from the fresh breeze and the clear sky was enough to throw the little bird into a panic.

    She tweeted loudly again and again, flying as high as she could as she cried against the dampening echo that reverberated through sheets of leaves, always smashed back down again by the thick foliage.

    A day and a night passed, and still she could find no exit through the forest ceiling. This was long enough for her panic to give way to exhaustion, and when she finally landed for more than a few seconds on a heavily shaded branch, she fell asleep.

    When she woke, she remembered her predicament. Fighting against the panic, she took several deep breaths, and looked about her.

    That was when she saw it.

    Shining in the distance.

    A small ray of light that had broken through the trees.

    She flew toward it carefully, trying not to hope and against hope.

    There was indeed a break in the trees.

    She smiled to herself, and tweeted a little song, then inched her flight ever upward, through the trees and into the wide open air.

    And as she flew, she thought that the next time she found herself buried under waves of panic, she might rest first and look about her after.

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