Teach Them Life

[Author's Note: Background of this story: A bird got into the grocery store where I work and all efforts to catch it failed. For over two months it flitted back and forth trying to get out. Finally it fell to the food traps. It broke my heart... ]

[Dedicated to Fred the parakeet, who liked to sing along with the vacuum cleaner and shreech at the dishes being washed. RIP, and Thea (the cat) apologizes for wanting to just say "Hello." -_-; ]

A.C. 208
Quatre Winner was enjoying the spring morning air, lounging on the sun-bleached deck of his modest manor house, thoroughly caught up in a fiction novel. He kept one ear alert for sounds from the far end of the yard where the beginnings of a forest grew.
Sure enough, half a chapter later a shrill voice called, "Daddy! Daddy, look what I found!" Quatre looked up and smiled at the sight of a sandy-haired seven-year-old boy scrambling across the grass toward him.
Quatre placed a cloth bookmark between the pages and set the book down on the table beside his chair. "What have you found, Stephen?"
The little boy dashed up onto the deck. "Come, you must see!" He grabbed Quatre's sleeve and tugged as if to pull him right out of his seat.
"Okay, I'll go." Quatre rose and took the boy's small hand in his. Stephen skipped all the way to the edge of the yard. Just as Quatre had predicted, there was evidence that his son had been scuffling around in the dirt again and had almost ventured into the mess of old leaves carpetting the wooded area. Stephen dragged him beyond this point to a large tree whose branches held thick bundles of fresh green leaves. Quatre looked up at it, smiling at its health. But then the boy called his attention to the ground. His brow immediately furrowed in worry when he saw what the child's hand was pointing at. It at first seemed to be a quivering mass of brown and white fluff, but as he crouched to get a closer look Quatre saw a small, perfectly round black eye that didn't seem to register the two humans. A grayish beak opened but no sound came out; a sick, frightened little bird.
"Daddy, it looks so sad...I think it fell out of its nest." Stephen pouted at him with innocent green eyes. "Can we put it back up there?"
Quatre looked to the tree...it was unscaleable, plus he didn't want to disturb any other birds trying to find this one's nest. "I think we should wait a little while. Its momma might come looking for it. She'll help it."
Stephen gazed downward thoughtfully. "I dunno...Wouldn't its momma come already?"
"She probably doesn't like us being here. That's why we shouldn't touch it, she won't like our smell on her baby." Quatre smiled reassuringly at the boy.
"Oh." Stephen looked as if he was storing away this bit of wisdom.
"Let's leave it for now. We can check on it later, okay?"
"Okay!" This idea seemed to cheer the boy. Quatre smiled again and took his son's hand, leading him back to the house and right to the sink to clean the dirt stains off his knees and hands...

Later after lunch Quatre returned to his book, hopefully leaving Stephen to play inside where he wouldn't get dirty again. The hope was short-lived, however; the boy soon came pattering out onto the desk with an empty shoebox in his hands. Quatre warily lowered the book enough to watch over the rim of the pages as Stephen plopped down on the first step below the desk and began amassing a collection of grass, dirt, leaves, and the occasional flower petal. Quatre once more reached for the bookmark, not taking his curious gaze off the child. He was half-certain there would be a box of flora soup created very shortly...Then Stephen stopped plucking up grass and merely made a few decorative arrangements, moving the flower petals where they could be seen better. Then he set the box down beside him and drew his scrawny knees up, hugging his arms around them. His gaze went to the end of the yard.
Quatre decided to not say anything just yet. The little boy's attention would wander yet. Indeed, Stephen was already becoming distracted by a tickling on his arm. He uttered a squeak at the sight of a large black ant crawling toward his elbow. He was about to smack it off when his father suddenly appeared holding out a bookmark right in the ant's path. The insect decided to avoid it. After a few tries Quatre finally coaxed it onto the piece of cloth. He smiled at Stephen and lowered the bookmark to the shoebox. The ant was more than happy to cling to a blade of grass. The boy smiled faintly and set to watching the ant explore the contents of the box, which he picked up again to hold closer to his face. Quatre sat down beside him, but now his attention was elsewhere. There was a strange feeling inside him, somewhat familiar, like something he had felt before but had not experienced in a while. A tiny, barely perceptible twinge in his heart...
"It wants to go home, daddy," Stephen stated as he tilted the box upward. The ant had scaled one wall of the container and was now casually strolling down the outside.
"Set the box down carefully and we'll let it go on its way," Quatre instructed in a gentle tone. The boy did as told, taking almost comical meticulous care to not squash the ant as he lowered the box. The insect obliged by scuttling off under the deck, having decided to stay away from humans for a while.
Stephen looked at where it had gone with a pout on his face. Before Quatre could say another word a small hand clamped onto his and tugged him forward. "C'mon, daddy. Time to check on the birdie..."
Quatre frowned. This probably wasn't going to end well. Stephen paused and turned, leaning back to grab the shoebox. Quatre quirked an eyebrow and wondered what the boy was up to now. He had little time to think while his son once again dragged him to the edge of the yard.
The bird was still there, trembling away, with a larger pile of feathers surrounding it. Quatre bit his lower lip, uncertain of what to do and even less certain of what to tell his son. However, Stephen had made a decision of his own; he knelt and scooped the bird into the box before Quatre could stop him."Its momma isn't coming back," the child said matter-of-factly. He gently brushed some leaves and grass over the bird. It seemed to stop trembling; it chirped once. "Can we take it to the animal hospital? Please, daddy?"
Quatre looked doubtful but he took a cellular phone from his pocket and dialed Information. "Hello? Yes, I'd like the number for the nearest veterinarian's office. My area code is..."
A few minutes later he closed up the phone. "I'm sorry, Stephen, but none of the vets here are prepared to care for wild birds..." Quatre, frustrated, was close to tears himself, and so was ready for any outbursts from his son.
The boy merely gazed down at the shoebox. "That's okay, daddy," he said softly, "The birdie went to sleep." Something in his tone made Quatre realize that the boy knew exactly what he was talking about; he didn't bother to check the box.
"Leave it by the tree," Quatre said gently. "Let it stay with nature." Stephen nodded and set the box down beside a curving root then piled dirt and leaves over it. Quatre didn't mind him making a mess this time...

A.C. 216
Stephen Winner lowered himself into the stiff, high-backed chair beside the white-sheeted bed, carefully clasping his father's frail hand in his.
"A mild heart attack, but he is already recovering nicely." The worry had produced a painful twinge in his own chest, but now Stephen relaxed a bit as Quatre looked over at him and gave a weak smile, eyes slightly distant but still holding a light of love.
I'm so glad I could be here with you, father, Stephen thought to himself as he momentarily shifted his gaze to his own left arm, which was constricted by a sling. He had learned these last few weeks just how important all life was, old and young, and how life tested all people, strong and weak hearted alike...and that life would continue to test every being, human or otherwise.

[I'll admit that was a bit strange overall...but the ending will make more sense whenever I get Stephen's story posted. ^_^;]

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(c) 2000-2004 Autumn Loweck. This work may not be copied, distributed, or reprinted without the author's permission. Character of Stephen is property of Autumn and may not be "borrowed" or mentioned in other works without notifying the author first. Character of Quatre belongs to the creators of the GundamWing series, Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, Bandai, and whoever else in Japan involved in this most cool anime.