Unlucky Lucky (part 1)

Authors note: Hey everyone! Hope y'all are having an amazing Monday.  Just wanted to say a few things real quick.

Unlucky Lucky

     I stared out my dirty window and gazed at the boys and girls cheerfully playing outside. I wish I wasn't like this. I wish I wasn't the poor shy girl who couldn't say anything to anyone. My whole life had been poor. figuratively and literally. Sighing I turned away and looked around my room. A layer of dirt covered the ground and my blanket had more holes than cloth. All of my clothes were donations from a local charity. I didn't have a father, only a mother who worked day and night to provide for both of us. She came home exhausted and fell asleep immediately. I went to school during the daytime and cried myself to sleep at night. Each day, tears of self-pity leaked from my face and stained my pillow. Life was a big, dirt-filled piece of waste.

     It was almost Christmastime and all the children spoke of what they wanted for Christmas in class. When the teacher asked me, I mumbled ”food”, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Miss Thompson cleared her throat and continued her reading. That's the problem; no one is willing to lend a hand. They simply look past you and pretend nothing happened. They're afraid, I'm not sure what of, but everyone tries to get away from me when I talk to them. Everyone thinks they're better than the last one and don't take time to recognize someone in need. Another thing that I hated was my name. I was called Lucky. So unfitting. My life was anything but lucky. Sometimes I heard snickers in the back of the class when Teacher took the role. My existence seemed to not matter as I appeared to float through classes like a hallucination to everyone. The so-called, gossip girls laughed at my knotted, waist-length, raven-colored hair. I tried to brush it out using items around the house, but I always ended up frustrated with myself and gave up. As you could probably tell, my home life sucked. I thought everyone hated me until I saw what waited for me on Christmas day…

      “Lucky!” I heard my mother’s voice drift upstairs. I awoke from my slumber and stumbled across the dusty floor and into the living room. I knew my mother didn’t get me a present. I didn’t mind, we had a nice meal on Christmas instead. 

“Yeah?” I called back.

“I think you should look outside the door,” she said, with a hint of confusion on her face. I shrugged and opened up the door, barely held together by a few screws. Peering outside I noticed a cage. My curiosity led me to the porch where I glanced inside the enclosure. All of a sudden, a bird flew around in it. I gasped, it was the most exotic looking bird I had ever seen. Large blue spots were scattered across his body, and his wings were a brilliant white. They reminded me of blueberries. Blueberry. I thought. That's what I’ll call you. Beside the cage was a lifetime supply of birdseed and toys. My eyes grew hot and tears welled up behind them. This was the best gift I had ever received! Who would give me such a wonderful thing?

”Momma who-” I stopped short when I saw she was crying. She didn't know either. I brought the magnificent bird inside, but soon realized my dirty room was no place for him. In a flash, determination coursed through my veins. Something I had never felt before. In a frenzy, I swept the dust outside the window and patched up my old quilt with the extra cloth I had laying around. This was the best thing that had happened to me. I had something to take care of, and that made me have a motherly instinct to protect the bird. Finally, it was finished. With satisfaction, I set Blueberry on my window seat so he could peer outside. For a while, I was satisfied just watching him play around, but then I wanted to do more. I wanted to play with him. I cautiously opened the door and stuck my hand inside the cage, fishing around for the bird. Before I had time to react, Blueberry fluttered his wings and flew out. Why did he want to get away from me? Is he just like everyone else? Pushing the thought away quickly, I staggered around the room trying to find him. When he was located in my rat-filled closet, I let out an audible gulp. I knew I had to get him out. I shook slightly as I made my way through the small space. I thought I could feel spiders crawl up my legs, and mice nibbling at my heels. When I finally found my bird I grabbed him before he had any chance of getting away again. He squirmed the whole way through the closet, and back to his cage. I didn't know why he kept trying to get away, but I did know that tomorrow was a new day. And as I climbed in bed, I knew I would have to make him like me, for he was my one and only friend.

Another note: thank you guys so much if you read til the end! Also sorry this is so short. I’m going to have to work on that for sure. Again, be sure and check out part 2 on B.W’s page!!!! And thank you B.W for collaborating with me! It was so much fun.