An Act of Mercy

I've been having those dreams again.

It's Deja Vu all over again. Once again, we meet the enemy, and once again, he is us.

First to go, last to know. It's the way it's always been.

We don't shoot to kill. We shoot to survive.

Once I was walking down the lazy streets of urban Toronto when I stopped a movement out of the corner of my eye. A small flare of pink stood out from the side of the street, a tiny spot of color on an otherwise bleak pavement.

On a whim, I stopped and bent over. To my horror and eternal pity, a small featherless bird lay there, just out of the nest, crushed on the concrete. Its wings were broken and it took laboured breaths, struggling to survive in the cold of the autumn.

I looked above for the nest, but there weren't any nearby trees. I sumerised that the bird must have fled the nest on its 'first flight' and, unable to fly due to malnutrition, the wind, or other circumstances, it had landed here, in the middle of the technological forest, the urban jungle.

And I looked again at the small creature, this pitiful bundle of down and beady eyes. I knelt next to it, wondering how the numerous cats and dogs of the neighbourhood had not yet noticed this tasty morsel. I looked on helplessly, tried to see some way I could save it, but from even just a cursory glance I could see it was beyond rescue.

I looked down at my watch. 10:09. With a heavy heart I picked up the tiny creature, this godforsaken life, this tortured soul trapped in a broken body. I brought it with me, crossed the street, approached the train station. I ascended the steps, feeling the warm body through my fingers, the broken bones jutting out against the soft skin. And then, I reached the tracks. From the signs above, the train was due in another 3 minutes. I breathed a soft prayer through the cold air, and placed the bird on the tracks. Then I forced myself to walk away.

The next day when I went back, there was no trace of the bird. I pray it miraculously flew away, but to this day, the memory of that little bird still haunts me in my dreams.