The Encounter

 Don't look at me! 

I am just a sparrow up a tree. 

I am not even fit for a sacrifice. It is reserved for those pigeons and doves. I am no good. 

Just leave me alone. 

Can't you see, I am trying to hide? 

Rattle snakes are pretty common out here. Who knows?  You might just be one- pretending to be all human. And your being human is no relief to me.

If Solo could make the passer -by understand, he would have chirped out the whole thing in under five seconds albeit hidden. But he was too scared to make a sound. All of this monologue was running in his head as the casual commoner strode along after a moment's rest under his tree. 

That night he had a nightmare. In it, he fell off the tree into a man's hands. He got up with a cold shiver having come so close to feeling dead. For the next several hours, even after the sun had risen brilliantly, he didn't feel like leaving the nest. Hunger forgotten, he imagined the worst. 

"Solo, you coward, shake off the fear. You cannot survive if you are this scared of everything"

"You know, sometimes a firm decision is all it takes to come out of your shell."

"You are too lazy to even try"

His pep-talk seemed to kick in. Solo had believed some of it for sometime and tried his best to be brave but he always ended up feeling foolish and beaten down. So with a not so new found courage, he decided to venture a little farther and he found a group of men sitting quietly paying attention to one man talking. 

Solo lighted on a branch from where he could hear quite clearly. For some reason, he loved the speaker and kept adoring Him. Quite absent-mindedly, he took miniscule steps towards the end of his perch and before he realized it, a pretty loaded breeze caught him off guard and he fell. 

There was a rush of emotions at that moment. He was living his nightmare only wishing he could wake up. Lo and behold he was in the hands of the Man he had adored! Now, almost petrified, he shut his eyes and then heard this:

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care."

And with that, Solo opened his eyes and took a quick flight back to the branch and then fear forgotten, flew straight home. He would relive that moment a thousand times and those beautiful words never failed to still his churning heart. He let out a chirp that echoed through the empty spaces and tweeted like nobody's business. 

No more hiding for little Solo. Every morning began with his song. No one, not even the screech of a tired owl looking for a quiet morning nap. He had received an assurance of a protection so beyond his capacity that dangers lurking at every turn became mere reminders of His great Creator who watched over the easily forgotten.