I USED TO LIVE IN A CAGE... but NOW I AM CERTAINLY FREE!
It's a sunny morning. The sun had just shown in the east and i can see signs of a hot day ahead. I noticed the sun seem to smile at me... Then I realized it was the 20th time the sun did smile at me.After Mr. Sun's twentieth smile, I looked around me, searching for clues if I'm going to be free. But still, I found myself inside a beautifully locked silver cage. For sixteen years, I was placed in a wooden cage with cogon leaves. I was raised and bred. Four years ago, i was transferred in a well-adorned silver cage. Though my new place is nice, I have longed to see that cage door wide open. A time when I can come in and out of the cage whenever I want. I have never experienced utmost FREEDOM.
Yes, I was provided with food and water. I am taken care of and nurtured.I was provided with a beautiful shelter. I won't be what I am now without these silver bars. What more could a bird like me long for? Sometimes, I see other birds envy me because I'm readily provided with food while they starve and wait for some grains to fall from my plate. They envy me because I was taken care of. That I am safe from hunters while they aren't sure when hunters come and roast them. And I know I have to be very glad about that. But do they know I also envy them?
How I wish I could join them. Soar above the sky. Chirp and rest on the branches of the trees, sing a very beautiful melody and drink with my tiny beak in the swamp where the water is clear and plenty. I want to see places out there! i want to see others appreciate my beautiful color. I want to hop and feel the white sand in that beach. I want a life I call my own. But I can't! I am imprisoned behind these steel bars... Bars that hinder my freedom... Bars that confirm that I am a bird... A flightless bird.
Oftentimes, I ask myself if I was destined to be caged. And if I were, will it be forever? Maybe I was caged for a reason. Then, I began checking myself. Yes, I have wings, I could fly! But, do I know how high? Won't I fall down and regret that day I soared up high and fell and died? I keep on telling myself that all things happen for a reason. I need to develop my wings before I could have that ultimate freedom I have been dreaming of... And in time, I'll learn to live independently, and find the place where I belong. Soar high and if ever I fall, I could fix my broken wings and learn to fly again... When I could protect myself from hunters... And if these silver bars feel that I am capable of doing all those, then, I'll certainly be free! I don't know when... But I hope it's sooner. When the bars of this silver cage could still see the fruits of their labor of guarding me... When they could see me happy and thank them. Until the nth time the sun smiles at me.....
