The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
by Maya Angelou
She always liked him. When he was six years old and she was three, it was what you would call 'sibling love'. She pulled his hair and in return, he pulled her hair. She use to bite him and he use to return the favor. And there was that one time when he accidentally tripped her and she was furious, so she kicked him in his 'sensitive area'. She said she was sorry for it later and he surprisingly forgave her. They laughed about it together. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and gave him a colored picture that she drew of him. It was just a stick figure with dark skin and black hair, but he liked it and hung it on his wall. He got teased by his brothers about it, but he didn't mind.
She continued to like him. When he was eight years old and she was five, he told her stories. Mostly to shut her up, but there were times when she was actually being calm and he entertained her. On those so called lazy days, she would fall asleep in his lap and he would carry her inside and lay her on the couch to nap. She always dreamed of the mustang and the mosquito. After her nap, they would play together. Tag was their game. And somehow he always won. He says it's because he has longer legs, but she still thinks he cheated somehow.
She still liked him. When he was ten years old and she was seven, they were considered frienemies. One day they were fighting like an old married couple and the next day, they were laughing about it. They always rode their horses together, they always ate together, and they just did everything together. Their parents called it 'young love'. She still remembers that one weird day when they found a bird that had fallen out of her nest. One of its wings were torn and a few feathers were missing, but it was still singing a cheerful tune. The boy had patched the bird up and set her free to fly. The young girl sometimes like to think she was exactly like that bird.
She started to hate him. He was officially a teenager and she was ten years old. He still came over, only this time to help her father with the horses. And not to see her. She felt abandonment and jealousy. They no longer spent their time together, but apart. One day, her jealousy had gotten her grounded. She had been sick and wanted to go to the store with her dad to get chicken feed, but he had said no and her so called friend had offered to go instead. He got kicked in the shin that day and she had gotten sent to her room. The bedroom door was then slammed and locked. She spent the whole day sitting at the faded yellow desk in front of her bedroom window that overlooked the ranch, just watching time past. To pass the time, she thought about the bird that had fallen out of the tree a few years ago. It was a lot like the grounded girl in her room. She cut out maybe a hundred, colorful paper birds that day and hung them everywhere in her room. And she placed two birds in a handmade cage on her nightstand.
She began to like him again. He was sixteen years old and she was a new teenager. She had just came back home from San Francisco. All hate was forgotten. He was cautious at first because of what happened to her that got her sent to San Francisco in the first place, but she forgave him and she never blamed him for anything that happened. There was still guilt in his eyes, but through the hard times, they got through it together.And every time a bad thing happened, she would always come home to her warm bed. She felt at peace falling asleep under paper birds and comforting thoughts and her two precious caged birds on her nightstand that whispered songs in the silent nights.
She was on the verge of slapping him. He was eighteen years old and she was only fifteen. She had thought him holding her hand at the New Years Eve bonfire meant something. Obviously, she was dead wrong. Maybe he was just trying to comfort her that night or maybe he was just tricking her like always. He betrayed her. No one knows how it happened, but she finally had him caught in her poisonous web. Rachel Slocum had come back from England. Apparently, she had to come back to help her brother. The girl who use to be Jake's friend was mad as hell. She felt familiar feelings. Betrayal, abandonment, and jealousy. They weren't together anymore. They were just forgotten friends. Sam, the girl with the auburn hair, was tossed in a recycling bin overnight.
She started to feel disappointment. She always saw them around school. Kissing by the lockers, holding hands down the hallway, passing notes in class, etc. It sickened Sam to no extent. How could Jake, the strong cowboy, end up with a witch like Rachel? What the hell happened? Sometimes at school, she saw Jake. And when he noticed her, she would shake her head in disappointment. There were times when she excused herself from class and cried in the bathroom. When she was done, she splashed water in her face to get rid of any tears. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel and her anger flared of like an inferno. That witch stole her best friend. Sam ended up grabbing Rachel's hair and shoving her head in to a toilet. And Sam ended up being grounded for a month. No riding, no allowance, no nothing. Since she was grounded, everyday after school when she came home, she made more paper birds. But this time, they were made with black paper. She ripped all her old birds down and replaced them with the darkness. There were only two birds that she had forgotten. One maroon colored bird and one sapphire colored bird that sat on her nightstand together in the cage.
She was officially alone. Jake had left for college a few days ago. She didn't go see him off because she knew Rachel would be there kissing him good-bye. Even her best friend Jen was busy these days with her stupid boyfriend. She was alone. Sometimes she feels like a chained slave in her room all day, but she had no choice. She knew that they would never be together. There were times when she thought Rachel wasn't good enough to have a great guy like Jake. But then there were times when the annoying voice in her head told Sam that she was wrong. That she was the one not good enough for Jake. Then her heart would confuse her and tell Sam that Jake was just stupid. A plain stupid boy that didn't see the potential in the girl he had known his whole life.
She was born again. She came to realize that she was the one being stupid. Why was she stressing over something that would never happen? They would never be togetherand never will be. It simply wasn't meant to be. One day, she was sitting at the same faded yellow desk in front of her bedroom window. She was cutting another bird out. Just one this time. It was a shade of bright magenta pink that disgusted her. Sam walked over to her nightstand and replaced the maroon bird with the magenta one. Her and Jake were no longer together. The deep red bird was ripped up and placed in the garbage just like Sam was. Then the bright pink bird was placed next to the dark blue bird that resembled Jake. Him and Rachel were friends now. Not poor little Samantha.
Sometimes at night, she still dreams about kissing him. But then she wakes up and faces the truth. And suddenly Sam knows why the caged bird sings.