Am I Immortal?

This event took place on Easter Sunday March 23, 2008

The day is beautiful
With a strong cooling breeze
Clouds rolling in, potential for rain
There is a court for the game
A ball, a net and one player
An innocent child, 13 years of age
On the court, a puddle from last night's rain
The ball is thrown
Time and time again, practice makes perfect they say

A small bird comes to play
In the puddle she wants to stay
Ball bounce once, twice, she flutters away
Scared, nervous, timidly she comes our way
The water is cool and shallow
(just right for her morning bath)
The ball is thrown, bounce, bounce
She flitters about, splash, splash

The ball comes down
It is not heavy
but she is not strong
The ball is not big
but she is not large

It bounces near
She scurries in fear
A zig when she should have zagged
It takes but one second
The ball comes down
As it rolls away
She falls over
A little flicker of hope as she moves
Please get up!
The wing moves unnaturally as she falls
I rush over
What can I possibly do?
Pick her up gently
In her last seconds she sees my face
Does it matter to her?
I hope it is kind the image in her mind
I hold her softly, help to support her lolling head
And then it is over

Her eyes partially close
Her breast stops rising
It is Easter day and maybe a sign
I don't know
But this little life touches me
I rise from my knees and find a large leafy branch
on the ground in the brush
I lift it and lay her stillness down
A moments silence as immortality slips away.


A few hours later I found out about a tragic turn of events in my sister's life