The Mockingbird by Pauline Cruz

One day when I was five, my parents and I went for a walk in the nearby park.  It was a warm autumn day and the bright, colorful leaves were twirling in the breeze.  I was walking down the paved road, enjoying the day when suddenly, I heard a faint noise.  At first, I thought I was just hearing things, but then I heard it again.  Quickly, I followed the sound until I found its source; a small mockingbird who had broken its wing and was crying shrilly for help.  I gently cradled the poor bird in my cupped hands and ran to my parents.  We returned home and I helped nurse the mockingbird back to health.  When it was time to release it, I felt sad that it had to go.  However, I was pleased that the mockingbird was healthy and free again.  As time passed, I forgot about the mockingbird and my life went on.  Seven years after the mockingbird, my father died in a horrific car accident.  I sank into a deep depression and nothing could shake me out of it, not even the comfort my mother and my friends tried to give me.  One day, I was sitting in my room, staring blankly at the wall as the rain fell heavily against the windows when suddenly, I heard a tapping noise.  I looked and outside my window was a mockingbird, trying to find shelter from the heavy rainfall.  I walked over to the window and opened it and the little bird flew in swiftly, simultaneously shaking rainwater from its feathers.  At first, I was slightly irritated that the bird had slightly dampened me, but then I realized that the little mockingbird was flying towards me, unafraid.  Tentatively, I stuck out my pointer finger and the mockingbird landed gracefully on it.  A memory buried deep within my mind slowly surfaced as I examined the little bird.  “Could this be the same bird I nursed back to health so long ago?” I thought.  Suddenly, the bird opened its beak and began to sing.  The melody was the most beautiful I had ever heard and it began to slowly lift my spirits.  The corners of my mouth slowly lifted and after what seemed like a century, I smiled for the first time in weeks.  I listened to the mockingbird’s song for a few more minutes and then I noticed that the rain had stopped.  The mockingbird seemed to notice too because it flew off my finger toward the window.  Reluctantly, I opened the window and the bird immediately flew off into the warm sunshine, never to be seen again.  All of a sudden, my mother walked in.  She noticed my smile and asked what had happened that had made me happy again.  I simply said, “An old friend came to visit.”