The White Birds

A story as told by a lost kid.

Mom and dad and me were in the motel room when there was a knock on the door. I was standing by the door so I opened it and Joey came in. He had a gun in his hand pointing it at dad. “Alright,” he said, real mean, “hand it over.” I noticed dad’s hand moving slowly to this bottle on the table. I was standing next to Joey now, so I jumped up and pushed his gun hand away. Dad grabbed the bottle and threw it. It hit Joey square on the head and he staggered and went down.

Then we heard sirens outside. The police must have been trailing Joey, I figured. Mom and dad rushed out the back door, dad yelling, “Come on!”  I turned, bolted the front door and started to follow, but I tripped over something and hit my head on the table. Mom and dad were already on the street getting into the car when I managed to stagger to the back door. The cops were pounding on the front door, and I could hear another police car’s siren coming close.

I started down the back stairs, but the other cop car was closing in on dad’s car, so he shouted up to me “Meet us downtown!” and off they went. I climbed down the back stairs and ran. I found a good hiding place in the back of the motel and waited, shivering with fright. Cops were all over the place, but I managed to creep away down an alley. I kept looking back, but nobody had spotted me. After a while I was far away from the motel, so I reckoned I’d better head downtown to meet mom and dad somewhere. I knew they’d be driving around slow, waiting for me.

When I got to the city center I saw a big crowd of people milling about in front of city hall. Seems sone big-wigs were going to make a speech or something, so I wandered around for a while on the edge of the crowd. There were lots of cops around watching the crowd, so I tried to look inconspicuous. That’s when I noticed mom and dad’s car moving slowly along a side street. Dad waved to me to come on, but with all the cops around I frantically waved them off. Dad looked at the crowd and the police standing around and all and drove away. I figured I’d catch up to them later.

Pretty soon I guess the Mayor or somebody important was standing on the city hall steps with a cop and getting ready to start talking. I figured I’d stay there for a while and give dad and mom some time to get clear. Then I noticed some cops gathering together and looking the way dad had gone in his car. I had to think fast. I pushed my way through the crowd and ran to where the Mayor was standing. This created a little stir, and the cops started to look at me instead of down the street.

Pretty soon those cops were all around me, pulling me away from the Mayor-guy. That’s just what I wanted. I started to yell so there’d be a big commotion. Then the Mayor and this important looking cop came over and pulled me aside and started asking me who I was and what did I think I was doing.  I told them I was an orphan, and that I was lost and all alone and sad and hungry and stuff. The Mayor suddenly put his arm around me and pulled me back to the front and said in the microphone about me and how much he cared about lost kids orphans and poor people and all, and how he’d help me the same as he’d helped everybody since he was Mayor. See, he was just trying to get sympathy cuz it was probably election time.

 

Then the important looking cop took me back a ways and told me to wait there and not to run off. That Mayor guy sure did talk a long time. The crowd didn’t seem too enthusiastic about whatever he said, though. Anyway, after he had stopped yakking and waving and stuff, he came over to me and asked me a bunch of questions. I lied the best I could, and pretty soon he said I could come to his house and eat and get cleaned up  I was clean anyway, but I didn’t tell him that. I didn’t like him much, though. He smelled funny and was fat and I never trusted Mayors or big-wigs and such anyway. They were always trouble.

So anyway I had to go with the Mayer to this big house and meet his ugly wife. She wasn’t too bad, though. She was kind of nice, but still not the kind of person I’d like to hang around with. She had too many perty manners. They had good food, though. I pretended I was real hungry and thanked them over and over.

After I ate, I sat down in this plush chair in another room for a while by myself. The Mayor and his wife told me to wait there while they went off somewhere else in the house. It was real boring sitting there all alone. I was nervous about my situation, but I was smart, too. I figured these two would believe anything I told them, so that satisfied me some.

Pretty soon the Mayor and his wife came back into the room. The Mayor like sat on his haunches next to me and said he’d talked to his wife and they decided to adopt me, me being an orphan and all. This surprised me, I’ll tell you. I sure didn’t want to be adopted by anybody, especially a funny-smelling fat guy and his ugly wife. I thought about it for a minute and then said okay. I acted real pleased and all. I figured that was the best way to handle the situation. I could get out of there later. I was real anxious to get back to mom and dad, wherever they were by this time.

I was worried, though about finding them. They couldn’t stay in town or they’d be caught, sure enough. My worries were interrupted by the guy’s wife petting me and saying I needed a bath and new clothes and talk like that and how much I’d like living with them and how much they liked me.  I thought it was a bunch of bull, but I’d have to play the game for a while until I had time to escape, so I thanked her and pretty soon I was in a bedroom somewhere in the house pretending to be getting ready for bed.

The only thing was, like I said, I didn’t know where mom and dad were. I figured they’d already left town and who knows where they’d go? The only thing I could think of was maybe they’d go to grandmas. They’d probably be safe there. She lived way out somewhere in Minnesota someplace. I’d been there as a little kid, but I didn’t know where she lived so how could I find her.  I’d have to hitch-hike, I figured, which wouldn’t be too bad. But, like I said, I didn’t know where exactly to hitch-hike to.

So I stayed in that big house for about a week, mostly pretending to be grateful and stuff, and thinking about my escape. That would be easy, but I also wanted to give mom and dad time to get somewhere far away. Sometimes I really did feel like an orphan, though. Thoughts went through my head about never being able to find my parents again and wandering around forever aimlessly and sad. This was about the worst I ever felt in my life. Sometimes I cried myself to sleep.

 

Then one evening the Mayor said lets go for a ride for a while and talk. This scared me a little. Talk about what? Did he find out something about me? I mean the real me. I was nervous when I got into his big convertible car. I got into the back seat cuz I said it was more fun in an open car like that. So we drove off and pretty soon we were driving in the country. It was getting dusk-like and we were driving along this lonely road. It was nice and cool and breezy and I was watching the trees overhead dash by, sort of with my eyes half-closed and dreamy-like. It was nice, but I was feeling pretty lonely.

Then I saw some big, white birds circling around in the sky above me. It seemed they were like following the car somehow, but still they were slowly circling.  They were real high up but beautiful to watch. I found myself wishing I was a big, beautiful white bird so I could just fly away from all my problems. That made me feel a little better, but I knew I was just dreaming.

Then the Mayor turned his head around a little. I pointed to the beautiful birds in the sky. He looked up and smiled. I’d never seen him smile before. He looked sort of okay, smiling. Then he said, “You know what those birds are?” “No,” I said, looking back up at them. “Those are very special birds,” he said.  “You hardly ever see them. You know what they’re doing, away up there?” he asked.  

I said I didn’t know. “Those are great birds that fly all over the world looking for lost children. When they see one, they swoop down and take the child by the nape of the neck and fly way up with them and return them to their home so they aren’t lost anymore and sad. They’re very famous, and everyone loves them. They’re the kindest animals in the world.  It’s very rare to see them, but they exist all the same. To see them even once in your life is very lucky. You’re a very fortunate boy.”

The Mayor turned his head around to the front again. I looked up and could still see the big beautiful white birds circling slowly way up in the sky overhead. Tears came into my eyes watching them floating above so pretty and peaceful-like. “Maybe they notice me down here,” I said softly to myself, “and they’ll know I’m lost and lonely and sad, and they’ll follow me to that big house and rescue me and bring me to my home.

Through my tears I watched the beautiful white birds until pretty soon I couldn’t see them anymore in the growing darkness. I knew they were still up there, though somewhere, slowly and silently circling, waiting to take me home.