Marian had fond memories of growing up. She was raised on a playground outside of an elementary school in Daedalus, Maine. Actually, she lived above the playground. Her family’s nest was high up in an oak tree on the playground.
Several times a day she heard the happy sounds of human children playing when they would come out for recess. For the longest time she could only hear the children and not see them, but eventually she was big enough to peek over the side of the nest and watch them. It filled her with joy when she saw that some of them shared food with her parents. Her mom and dad would happily accept the scraps of bread and cookie crumbs, and then they would fly home to the nest to feed Marian and her brothers and sisters.
Sometimes the children would stare up into the tree in order to catch a glimpse of the nest Marian shared with her family, and when they did see it, they would shout with joy. “There it is!” one would say. And another would add, “And there’s the babies!” Marian grew up feeling loved and protected.
Marian was the first of her brothers and sisters to fly out of the nest. She was just so overcome with the joy of being alive she felt compelled to spread her wings and fly at the first opportunity. But she didn’t go far. She stayed relatively close to the nest she had shared with her family. It wasn’t long before the children were giving her food, and Marian was so unafraid, she was almost willing to take it directly from their outstretched hands.
Then one day an awful thing happened. She saw two human boys lure her parents to the ground with a Ritz cracker, and while they were happily pecking at the gift, the boys began pelting them with stones. Both her mom and dad were killed before they had a chance to get away.
Marian’s brother Joe was still in the nest, so she took it upon herself to feed Joe until he was strong enough to fly. But one day when she was in the nearby woods collecting worms, a stray cat went up into the tree and found Joe. When Marian was flying home, she saw the struggle, but it was too late for her to do anything. By the time she reached the nest, the only thing left of little Joe was a few feathers. The cat slinked away with a satisfied grin.
Marian was dishearten and depressed. A few of the local birds dropped by to visit Marian, but she wasn’t in the mood to chat. When the other birds started flying south, Marian’s friends tried to talk her into going with them, but at first she refused. However, she recalled what her mom and dad said about winter, how cold it was and how hard it was to find food, so eventually she decided to join her friends and she flew to Florida with them.
All of the other birds seemed to love Florida, but Marian didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Then she met Lionel Morningstar. He was so nice and attentive. She soon fell in love with him. They began talking about flying home to Daedalus, Maine, in the spring, building a nest in the same tree where Marian grew up and raising a family.
They were so happy when weather reports indicated that it was getting warmer up north. Marian and Lionel immediately took to the air and began their journey home. But sadly, Lionel became ill and it was difficult for him to keep up with Marian. One day when they were flying over Georgia, Marian looked over to her side expecting to see Lionel, but he wasn’t there. When she looked down, she saw that her beloved was falling to the earth. The poor dear’s heart had stopped.
Marian began to dwell on all of those whom she had lost--Lionel, her brother Joe, her mom and dad. She longed to return to the oak tree where she grew up, but she remembered how her idyllic life there had came to a tragic end. Since she knew she would be raising a family on her own, Marian decided she needed to find a safer place to build her nest. So she flew deep into the woods by the playground outside the elementary school in Daedalus, Maine, picked the biggest evergreen she could find, and she constructed her nest near the top.
The nest was very comfortable, if a little cool and breezy, and Marian enjoyed sitting on her eggs. But then the eggs hatched, and Marian had three hungry mouths to feed. Without Lionel there to help, Marion found the task to be difficult, especially since she was terrified to leave the nest for very long. Every time she went in search of food, she would remember what happened to Joe and her parents, so she would rush back after finding a few berries.
If she had been asked, Marian would not have admitted to favoring one of her children over the others, but deep down, she knew that she loved Harry most of all. There was something about him that reminded her of both her little brother Joe and her beloved Lionel. So without thinking, Marian began to feed Harry first every time she returned to the nest with food. She made sure he was good and full before she would move on to her other chicks.
Marian ignored the fact that Harry was growing strong and healthy, but her other two were not. Then one morning she awoke to find that they had both died in the night. Harry asked what was wrong with his brother and sister, but Marian couldn’t bear to tell him. She told Harry to look away as she rolled her dead babies out of the nest.
After that, Marian was determined to see to it that Harry survived. She made sure that he had plenty to eat, and she repeatedly warned him about all the dangers he might expect to find in the world. Much to her surprise, Harry went from being a happy little boy bird to being fearful and anxious. He told Marian that he didn’t want to ever leave her and that he wanted to stay safely in their nest forever.
Marian knew that despite his insecurities, Harry would one day feel compelled to leave the nest just as she had done. And she watched with unease as Harry grew stronger and bigger. Marian kept telling Harry about all of the terrible things that could happen to him if he left her, but she became convinced that Harry would find the resolve to fly away any day.
So one night when Harry was fast asleep, Marian did something unspeakable, something irrational, something she had never imagined herself doing. She took Harry’s left wing in her beak, and she snapped it. Harry immediately awoke and began screaming in agony. Marian hated that her little boy was hurting, but she wasn’t sorry for what she had done. She did not want Harry to fly away. She didn’t want to lose anyone else. So she told Harry a lie. She said to him that she had noticed his wing was growing crooked and that breaking it was necessary so that he would one day have a strong, healthy wing.
It wasn’t long before Harry became restless. He saw other birds flying overhead, and he longed to be with them. When he noticed that a lot of them were beginning to fly south, he wanted to know when he and Marian would join the migration. Marian lied once more and told him they would go soon, and she comforted him by telling him stories about Florida.
Harry grew so large that the nest became crowded, and the Maine air became quite cold. Marian was having difficulty finding food, but still she clung to the belief that she had done the right thing in breaking the wing of her little boy. He was safe in the nest with her at least. But then something unexpected happened, Marian became ill, very ill. She was simply unable to go out in search of food, and both she and Harry began to starve.
Then one day Harry managed to summon enough strength to lift himself up. He hopped to the edge of the nest and got up on the rim. Marian screamed and begged for him to come back, but Harry looked over at her and said, “Mom, I know you broke my wing because you wanted me to stay with you, but I can’t. Not any more. I have to get out of this nest before it’s too late. I know that I probably won’t make it, but I have to go. Hopefully I’ll feel completely alive for the first time as I fall.”
Before Marian could respond, Harry jumped. He managed to sustain himself for a few seconds, but then his bad wing crumpled and he began to plummet. Marian dragged herself over to the side of the nest and looked down, and she saw her little boy’s lifeless body on a bed of pine needles.
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