No escape

Rory and Peter were out on a walk when they began to hear chirping. Both turned toward the source of the sound. At first glance it looked like a large multicolored cloud was headed in their direction. Soon enough, Rory realized that the cloud was actually a flock of parakeets. Peter remained calm, but Rory panicked. She sat down on the curb, unable to move. Peter laid beside her. One by one birds surrounded Rory and Peter. None moved in close enough to touch, but there was no way for Rory and Peter to move. They were trapped. The birds did not even flinch when Peter sniffed them.

The birds did not leave. Rory and Peter sat there for an entire hour waiting for an exit. Eventually, the birds on one side of the circle moved, creating a walkway for both Rory and Peter to leave. This shocked Rory. She expected to be sitting there all evening. As soon as she noticed the opening, both she and Peter hopped up and darted out of the crowd of birds. Groups of birds began to take off, flying towards the Victorian.  

After exiting the circle, there still seemed to be no escape. Rory wanted to go home to her apartment without wondering if she and Peter would be trapped again. When they reached the Victorian, the birds lined the top of the building. One sat on Rory’s first floor window seal.

They entered the Victorian, then apt. 2 and prepared for bed. Rory realized that during the hour she spent trapped in the middle of 200 parakeets, she had learned something about herself. She decided that no matter the situation, she would not always search for an exit. She decided she’d stop trying to change her fate.

She wondered how long this “promise” would last.