Sparrow | Teen Ink

Sparrow MAG

September 19, 2008
By pandafyre BRONZE, Grinnell, Iowa
pandafyre BRONZE, Grinnell, Iowa
3 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
“You dress in shadows, brother, but there is starlight in your eyes”

-Elizabeth Bear, All the Windwracked Stars


Every morning I look out at the streets but I don’t watch the cars. I watch the people – the fat man who sells hot dogs on the corner, the newspaper lady wearing the neon orange vest. Sometimes a kid rides by on a bicycle. Other times, the elderly woman who lives one floor down will put a leash on her German shepherd and then will be dragged two blocks before disappearing out of sight around the corner. They all do that, at some time or another.

I sit still for so long that a bird – a little sparrow with twitchy eyes – lands on the sill. Its feet shuffle back and forth, back and forth, until it is level with me. I am sitting straight, but I am small, so my chin is even with the sparrow’s beak.

“Hello there,” I say. I imagine the vibration of my voice has scared the tiny creature as it flies off. My eyes return to the street where the traffic light has changed in accordance with the rising sun and drifting river of commuters.

A long time ago, a girl was killed on that corner. I remember the day because it was my birthday, the twenty-second. Double twos.

She wore her hair in a braid, and jeans and a red shirt like the kind that can be found in the thrift shop on 53rd Street. Her skin was brown from time spent in the Californian sun, and I remember thinking, This is a long way from California. The worst part is that she didn’t know what people were like here. She’d seen gangs and once even lived in a neighborhood where gunfire was a constant concern. She’d been to funerals; the funeral of her sister, specifically. She was no stranger to death, and yet she didn’t understand!

I am not seeing the street any longer. The glass reflects the glare of the light, blinding me. In that glare I see the yellow taxi swerve to the left. I see the young businesswoman on the sidewalk, talking distractedly as she crosses the street. The light is green! Don’t walk! Please, don’t walk.

I see the green car. The man inside is a drunk because his girlfriend cheats on him and every Friday he goes to the Puss ’n Boots to get back at her. Her mother is dying. Her mother dies of cancer even as he flirts with the redhead in the silk camisole. Even as he pretends to have an excuse.

The taxi screeches to a halt just inches from the businesswoman’s shiny black shoes. She glares at the driver, a sweaty gray man who has been in the business 25 years and has never run anyone down. Just three dogs and a cat.

She is so distracted that the green car is on her before anyone who is not watching can blink. Thump!

Time does not freeze. Times moves just fine, but perception is off because the businesswoman is not lying on the asphalt, sprawled out in pain. She is panting on the sidewalk, cell phone crushed beneath the tires. Her neatly coifed hair is askew, eyes wild and disbelieving as they take in the young girl with brown skin. The girl is so still, her face pale – she is not Indian after all.

I sigh into the window. It is autumn now, and the air has adopted that crisp snap that warns of the coming freeze. From now on, every night will be terribly cold, especially for those who sleep alone, as the businesswoman does. I can only hope that she is changed, but in the end the only thing that I can do is wonder.

The sparrow is back, pecking away at a black bug racing across the window. Both predator and prey are blocking my view, so I can only see the first few letters of the hot dog stand and a blur of orange that is the newspaper lady.

“I’m sorry,” I tell the bird through the window. It pretends not to hear. “But I don’t have any food for you. You’ll have to tough it out on your own. Do you hear?” The beetle is crunched, and with a flurry of wings, the bird disappears.

The glass is a mirror and a window at the same time. I can see the fat man and the elderly lady now, but I can’t see them as I used to. They are not people anymore; I don’t know what they are. Souls, perhaps?

The door creaks open so fast, with only a jingling of keys for warning. I spring out of my chair, and turn sharply to face my new roommates.

They are a young couple toting a bulky baby carrier. Haggard faces, black ovals beneath weary eyes. They look Dutch. I’ve never met anyone from … where are the Dutch from, anyway?

They set down the carrier, and the baby, who has been making an abominable fuss, quiets instantly. Surprised, the couple look dubiously down and then exchange long glances.

“I guess Susan likes it here,” the mother says.

The father rubs his eyes. “Thank God.”

But I know differently. The baby is staring at me. I stand over her and touch my pale fingers to her forehead. She laughs and reaches up, trying to catch my hand, but her chubby little fingers pass through mine. Again and again, she tries, until her worried parents pick her from the carrier like a ripe apple. The mother retrieves the ingredients for the formula while the father rocks her, singing the same lullaby my father sang me once, a long time ago.

I am too busy for the street. My roommates are always moving, doing something. If it’s not the parents, it’s the child, who has taken a liking to passing her hands through my stomach and face as if I am some sort of will-o-wisp. The couple is somewhat bewildered but pleased with the sudden contentedness that radiates from the baby.

“My name was Francis,” I tell her at night. She watches me with huge brown eyes as I recite the story of my life, as I try to make her understand what I see when I look out the window. I wonder, as I do with the businesswoman, if she will remember me when she is older. But for now, all I can do is rub my fingers across her forehead and whisper stories of sparrows and heroes.



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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 164 comments.


on May. 9 2011 at 10:27 am
A.PaigeTurner, San Antonio, Texas
0 articles 0 photos 125 comments

Favorite Quote:
You think that everybody hates you. You should really stop that.- A Good Friend

That was a really good story!  keep writing please!

chickychick said...
on May. 9 2011 at 10:12 am
wow. that was simply amazing. I loved it. :D you are a great author. I wanted to keep reading. Good job!

on Apr. 17 2011 at 7:13 pm
remembermeplz PLATINUM, Friend, Nebraska
36 articles 10 photos 230 comments

Favorite Quote:
"when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace" -- Jimi Hendrix

Wonder!! I love it! yr coice of words r amazing and the plot to the story is very good =D

keep it up =D


on Apr. 17 2011 at 9:14 am
starxoxo23 PLATINUM, New Hampshire, New Hampshire
21 articles 0 photos 97 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."
- Alan Alda

Wow! This is soooo good! You're an amazing writer - keep up the good work. :)

on Mar. 26 2011 at 10:50 pm
whateverjuliet BRONZE, Miami, Florida
3 articles 3 photos 89 comments

Favorite Quote:
true love never dies,it only gets stronger with time.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FASCINATINGLY BEAUTIFUL! 

on Mar. 26 2011 at 7:51 pm
PerfectMGymnast DIAMOND, Parker, Colorado
57 articles 25 photos 633 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you don't leap you'lll never know what it's like to fly"

this was so perfectly written and you described everythig so well!!! I had a clear image in my head the whole time!!

BCF95 BRONZE said...
on Mar. 26 2011 at 7:40 pm
BCF95 BRONZE, Davis, West Virginia
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
Really Good!

on Mar. 26 2011 at 7:22 pm
to.hold.the.sun SILVER, Maryville, Tennessee
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present." -John Green

I love how everything came together at the end. You wrote it so well; it painted a picture in my head. So original and fascinating! I'd like to wonder what goes on in your head ;)

allicool :P said...
on Mar. 4 2011 at 6:49 am
I thought the story was great and funn to read but a bit confusing in some parts, but I liked it alot :D

on Feb. 11 2011 at 6:21 am
HorseLover SILVER, Dallas, Texas
7 articles 0 photos 55 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A boat is safe in the harbor. But this is not the purpose of a boat."~Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist

This story was amazing!! You did a really good job!

DanicaPage said...
on Feb. 10 2011 at 8:39 pm
DanicaPage, Pleasant Grove, Utah
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." ~Confucious

I must agree with the other comments. This story was fantastic. Keep up the good work!

on Feb. 10 2011 at 8:12 pm
A_Jean PLATINUM, Citrus Heights, California
40 articles 0 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"we all carry these things inside that no one else can see. they hold us down like anchors and they drown us out at sea."
"i'm trying to figure out which parts of my personality are mine and which ones I created to please you"

Oh my gosh, that was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. Very descriptive

Lletya BRONZE said...
on Dec. 28 2010 at 6:22 pm
Lletya BRONZE, Aurora, Colorado
2 articles 1 photo 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
All we ever wanted you to be, is to be yourself! If everyone leaves the show that night feeling better about themselves, then we did our job. Its a social experiment, slash art project. We're trying to change the world and help alot of people. MCR

I do not really get this.... is the girl telling the story a ghost? And if so, is she the girl who got hit?  I like the story, but it kinda confuses me... XD

on Dec. 23 2010 at 7:23 pm
MercyChristine GOLD, Oak Grove, Minnesota
10 articles 7 photos 57 comments

Favorite Quote:
oh shnykeis!

oh man...that was...perfect

on Dec. 6 2010 at 9:48 pm
NightDayDreamer BRONZE, El Paso, Texas
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
Live with courage; learn from the past, don't judge, be open; show caution but never hesitation, and always be yourself, yet show restraint when needed but never show fear, but courage in the face of adversity.

The twilight zone is a good show. i wish i could watch it.

on Dec. 6 2010 at 5:48 pm
OriginalCarbonation GOLD, Naperville, Illinois
11 articles 0 photos 102 comments

Favorite Quote:
dream as if you'll live forever
live as if you'll die tomorrow

i believe i have this right when i say:

the person looking out the window was the girl who got hit, she's a ghost/spirit now. notice how the baby cant touch her, and how she knows so much about the girl who got hit, and how she says the other people are "souls" now - because that is all she is - she sees that is what they always were. also, the "roomates" are cause thats where she "lives", but as a ghost she doesnt really. so those are the people who own or rent the rooms.

hopefully that was helpful

please read and comment on my poem called The Story of Us in the writers workshop. thanks!


on Dec. 6 2010 at 5:42 pm
OriginalCarbonation GOLD, Naperville, Illinois
11 articles 0 photos 102 comments

Favorite Quote:
dream as if you'll live forever
live as if you'll die tomorrow

my first reaction was to be speachless. slowly i was able to coherantly organize my thoughts into the ultra-literate phrase - WOW. this peice was touching and thought provoking. it kept the reader on their toes to understand what was happening (my only comment is that the pronouns - mainly she - got a little confusing between the business lady and the girl), but that made it all the better. i was so engrossed in the story it felt almost as if you had physically grabbed me and pulled me away from this world, into the screen where i was surrounded by the words only to appear in the world of the story and peer out the window with the girl. really beautiful, just beautiful

such a great writer could really help me with my work. would you please look at the poem i uploaded to the writers workshop forum? its called The Story of Us. i would really really appretiate it!


on Nov. 14 2010 at 10:43 pm
Overachiever BRONZE, Falls Church, Virginia
1 article 0 photos 8 comments
W.O.W. i am astounded. it was soo eerie and...just plain amazing.

on Nov. 14 2010 at 6:43 pm
silentvocal SILVER, Chicago, Illinois
5 articles 0 photos 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't try to fix what isn't broken

wow i love the different points linking together, all from one window-this is really good-i love this.

on Oct. 23 2010 at 8:33 pm
Jessica_Twine GOLD, Marietta, Georgia
11 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imperfection is Beauty Madness is Genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring!"

wooww!!! that was an amazing piece of work. I loved it! You're such a good writer! I loved the way you ended the story. It was such an inspirational story