I sat alone in an empty field staring at her picture. There were small, yellow flowers that grew in scattered patches throughout. They smelled sweet. Their fragrance reminded me of her smile. She was always smiling. She was one of the happiest people I ever met. She never let life get her down, even as she lay in that god forsaken bed. The sickness had taken her hair and her health, but never her smile. She passed that smile on to our beautiful daughter, I will always be grateful to her for our precious child.
The wind kicked up and there was a different scent, it was stronger smell that lingered longer than the sweet smell. I thought of the way she fought for months. She wanted to beat the sickness; she had an unyielding determination to win. She was always a fierce competitor in everything she did. It was the thing that attracted me to her when we were younger. She was the only person I could never beat in ping pong. I laughed at the memory of her diving across the room to stop me from scoring a point against her when she was already ahead by 10 points.
I put my shades on to shield my eyes from how bright the sun was. Her personality was like that. She was always the life of the party. She never liked seeing other people upset. There was a time at a wedding she danced with a stranger because he had a frown on his face. I loved that about her. It also caused us to bicker at times as well. That easy go lucky personality is fine at times but sometimes I just needed her to feel the way I felt. She was too free be weighed down by negative emotions though and I adored her too much to try and make her be someone other than she was.
She was like a free bird. Like the one that landed in the field a few yards away from me. It was bright red and looked small enough to fit inside of my hand. I could easily catch the bird and try to keep it. It would live in whatever cage I placed it in, but it would never actually have a life. I couldn't do that to her. I loved how free she was so much that I called her Birdy. The bird saw me and flew away. I silently thanked it for the time it had let me witness its beauty.
The police car pulled up and two officers jumped out. I lay flat on the ground and submitted to them. They were here to return me to the prison I had escaped from. They would never understand why I had to do what I did. I kissed Birdy's picture and let it go. As it blew away, I thought about the way I released her from her cage. I always called it adding extra love to her meals.