One foggy night a bird, sitting atop a bridge, noticed a girl in the corner of her eye. The girl was standing on the edge of the bridge looking directly down at the water. In a moment's notice the girl fell. The bird transformed into her human self and quickly went down to save the girl. It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. The bridge is a hot spot for suicide. Every Friday night the bird would sit on the top of the bridge and watch the cars pass through. She would occasionally witness people jump but was never able to save them despite trying. This time however, she caught the girl during her fall.
The bird brought the girl back up to the bridge’s sidewalk and sat with her asking “what made you do that?” At first the girl wouldn’t respond, let alone look up at the bird. After a few minutes the silence broke.
“There's nothing here for me anymore,” the girl muttered. “What do you mean?” asked the bird. “There's lots of things on this planet here for you!” “like what?"
The bird tried to list things, but was unable to. nothing came to mind. Is life really worth living? “I'll make a deal with you,”said the bird. “If I can show you all the things that are here for you and you still don’t see anything, I'll let you try again in 3 months. I won't intervene again if after 3 months you still feel that there’s nothing here for you” The girl agreed to go with the bird’s idea, thinking that after 3 months she’d be able to die. The bird insisted on shaking hands to seal the deal. The girl was hesitant at first but eventually shook the bird's hand and out of the corner of her eye the bird noticed some wounds on the girl’s arm. “Oh dear” said the bird. “You have wounds. let’s go to my place and patch you up, it’s not too far from here." The bird and the girl left the bridge and headed to the bird’s home.
“We’re here,”said the bird. They were in front of a sort of run down house. The girl, visibly concerned, looked around the area trying to see if there was some other place with people nearby but no, just the run down house and them. “Don’t worry,” said the bird. “I can assure you this place is safe. Now let’s go inside, I have a first aid kit in the kitchen” The girl reluctantly followed the bird into the house and was met with surprise when she entered. Despite looking old and decrepit on the outside, the inside looked like any regular house.
It was a single story home, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen and living room that were connected. The bird went to the kitchen to grab the first aid kit and came back to the living room. The two sat on the couch near the entrance.
“Is it okay if I lift your sleeve?” said the bird. The girl rested her chin on her hand and looked away. “…yeah” the bird lifted the girl’s right shirt sleeve and began cleaning the wounds. The girl kept glancing back at the bird and back at the wall. “How old are these?” The girl moved her sight to the window. “A few days” “Did you clean them and care for them in those few days?” The girl looked directly at the bird. “No. I didn't think I would need to. I was expecting to die” The bird glanced at the girl. “Even so, you should take care of your wounds. it’s important that they heal properly and don’t get infe-" ''How are you so calm about this?” the girl interrupted. “What do you mean?” “You stopped a complete stranger from jumping off a bridge, you made a deal with them and are caring for their cuts. hell, you even brought them to your house” the bird started, “Well, you’re not the first person i’ve seen on that bridge, and it’s not the first time i’ve bandaged someone’s wounds.”
The bird finished bandaging the girl’s arm and the room grew silent. “Well, would you like some tea? I put a pot on the stove when I went into the kitchen. earlier.” “I don’t want anything”
The bird got up from the couch and went to the kitchen. She came back with two cups of tea and sat one in front of the girl. “I said I didn't want tea.” “I know.” The bird took a sip from her tea. “Tomorrow we’ll go to town and have lunch at a cafe. We'll go to all the shops you want and I'll take you to a park to watch the sunset. Does that sound good?” “Where will i sleep?” the girl asked. “I have two bedrooms, but only the one to the left has a bed. you can sleep there.” “What about you?” “I'm content with sleeping out here on the couch” The girl stood up and walked to the bedroom door. “Goodnight,” she said. “I don't know if i can thank you yet for catching me, but thanks for giving me a roof tonight” “You’re welcome” the bird said while smiling. The girl went into the room and laid down on the bed. Although she didn’t say it, she was happy the bird cared for her. she lifted her right arm, looking at the bandages, and noticed something. The bird had put two stickers on the bandages- a heart and a cat. The girl smiled and fell asleep hugging a pillow in her arms.
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