Today's MOSTLY TRUE SHORT STORY: The Song Bird

F LoBuono

It was time for my monthly shearing so, as is my custom, I walked to my local barbershop for a trim. I arrived a bit early so I deposited myself on one of the cushy, pleather-lined couches and picked up a copy of the NY Post that was lying there (perfect reading to kill time - great sports and good gossip).

While perusing the newspaper, I heard a rustling coming from one of corners. I looked up to notice a white cage with a small, brightly colored bird fluttering around in it. I'm no ornithologist but it looked like some thing in the finch family. The tiny bird eventually lilted on its water dish and began to sing. I couldn't believe the joyous sound that was coming out of that little body! He (I assumed that it was a male because of the signing - males do it to attract mates) went up and down the musical scale, signing with a loud, clear voice. It was simply brilliant and made me smile.

Then, it made me very sad.

That song was SO beautiful but I couldn't help but feel that it was falling mostly on deaf ears. That bird was using that beautiful voice in the most natural of ways - to attract a female - in the most unnatural of settings - a small cage in the corner of a barbershop. It made me very sad - and, still does. That poor bird is destined to spend the rest of his life in a confined area, making music for ears not fully appreciative of the beauty it holds. But, then again, that in of itself, is kind of miraculous: despite its rather woeful situation, that bird sang as beautifully as if he were in a verdant mountain meadow. Marvelous.

That little guy kept signing until a got into the chair - a good 10 minutes with pause. Eventually, he stopped and the only sound I heard was that of the barber's scissors. . .