The Parable of the Parakeet

I had a dream last night about a wild parakeet.  She was blue with white markings and loved flying around and singing.  She took a wrong turn one day and ended up inside a house.  The house looked suspiciously like the one I live in.  The owner of the house caught the parakeet in his cupped hands and put her inside a cage so she wouldn't get hurt.  She screamed in protest and flapped her wings wildly once inside.  When the keeper brought water and food, she bit the hand in a desperate attempt to escape the cage.

It didn't take long before the keeper noticed that the parakeet had stopped flapping her wings.  He went to see the bird up close and she would again attack the cage, trying to gain her freedom.  The keeper moved away from the cage, and the bird settled down.  The next day, the keeper went to check in on the bird and noticed some feathers at the bottom of the cage.  A closer inspection revealed that she had broken her wings trying to escape.  She had also stopped singing.  When the keeper tried to splint the wings, the bird again attacked.  The keeper moved away, hoping his distance from the cage would soothe her.

As the days passed, more feathers appeared at the bottom of the cage.  No song greeted the keeper in the morning.  The once-bright eyes had dulled and it was obvious that the parakeet was suffering.  The keeper brought her a younger parakeet to keep her company and lift her spirits.  Instead, she moved into a corner and buried her head in her broken wings.  She didn't eat or drink what was offered to her and made no interaction with the other bird.  The next day, the parakeet was found dead at the bottom of the cage.  Her once-beautiful feathers were now sparse and broken.  Her dulled eyes were open but her body was stiff.  

It was no surprise to me that the parakeet died after being caged.  The nature of the parakeet is to stretch her wings, fly around and show her delight in song.  When the nature of the bird was compromised, she gave up on life, after giving it all she had.  I am that bird.

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