Ray's Short Sory The Old Man and The Sparrow

“The Old Man and the Sparrow”
by
Raymond J, DeTerra
An old man sat alone in his cabin in the woods one day, smoking his pipe and enjoying the solitude of his little world. The day
outside was blustery and cold. The sky was clouded over with cumulus clouds that portended a storm or, at the very least, a
day of dreary existence outside the confines of his cabin which, itself, was warm and secure.
All of a sudden the old man heard a knock on his window. He attributed it to the wind, for he saw nothing but the trees
bending in the distance as he looked outside. After a few moments he heard another knock on his window and observed the
same he had observed a few moments ago. However, being of a curious sort, he ventured over to the window to look out and
inspect the environment a little more closely. As he looked out the window, he saw a sparrow fluttering helplessly on the
ground. It had obviously hit the side of the man’s cabin, seeking warm haven, making its presence known by the two knocks
on the window that had been heard by the man. But the Sparrow had been hurt and could not fly further.
The old man, being a friend to all living things, went outside and picked up the small bird, smoothed its feathers, and took it
inside to where the hearth was warm and inviting. Now, the man was no longer alone! The presence of another life in his
cabin, even one so small, lit up the place like it had not been lit up for many years, and gave the man something to be
thankful for…a companion and something to love.
The old man tended to the bird and saw that the injury to its wing would not allow it to fly, at least for now, so he made a
place for it by the hearth and in his heart. Each day that passed, he talked to the bird and the bird answered back in the way
birds do when they’re happy. Weeks passed, and more and more the bird became part of the man’s life.
The Sparrow slowly got better, under the man’s ministrations, and became comfortable inside the cabin, flying from one spot
to another and singing joyfully. This made the old man very happy and he loved the presence of the bird in his life. He loved
the bird.
One day, when summer came, dawning as a mild and pleasant day, the man woke as usual to the sounds of the bird. He
marked his blessings once again that the bird had come to him and had added so much to his lonely existence. He wanted to
do something for the bird to show his gratitude and decided he would take the Sparrow outside of the cabin so that the bird
could enjoy the gentle breeze and the warm sun.
The man knew the bird would be happy and, even if the bird flew it would return to the cabin and to the man because the
man had given everything for the bird, restored its life, and lived to make it happy.
As the man stepped outside the door of his cabin and showed the bird the sky, the sun, and the beautiful environment
surrounding them, the bird took flight. Higher and higher it flew, testing its wings for a time and then flying to the North without
returning to the old man and his cabin, without even a glance back. The Sparrow was now free and was still wild. It had found
its wings again and yearned to fly where the man could not follow…to go where birds must go.
The old man watched the bird fly to the North and with hope in his heart, expected it to return to the home it had enjoyed for
so long, to sing its music to the man, to provide him companionship. It did not. The man went back into his cabin, back to his
comfortable chair, took up his pipe and, with a hopeful smile on his face, waited for a familiar knock on his window once
again until the day he passed away.
Days after the last breath had left the old man, a fluttering of wings rustled the air outside the cabin. Gently, ever so gently, a
knock was heard on the window, a knock that went unanswered, a knock that went unheard. On the other side of the cabin,
another window had been left open and the bird flew in, only to find the old man void of life. However, the man had a smile on
his lips in his repose and, in its own bird way, the bird knew that he had passed with hope in his heart and had been happy to
have loved, even for a short while, the bird’s presence in his life. After a few moments the Sparrow sang a sweet song, one
last time, for the man, found the open window, and flew away once again to where the old man could never follow.

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“The Old Man and the Sparrow”

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