"You have to find someone who truly loves you by midnight on December 24th or you'll be a bird for life!"
I can still hear my mother telling me this as we sat on my bed looking at the countless fashion magazines that are spread out on top of it. She looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes as she said these words to me making me blink my eyes as I looked at a red embroidered dress that was stamped on the magazine page in front of me, but all I could do was look at the page where it was I found the dress while my mother told me that I could become a bird for the rest of my life.
—Every day from now on you will change into a bird at 6 pm and only return to human form at daybreak, my child! - She told me as she ran her hands through my black hair.
Your smile always so radiant was so sad that it made me try to comfort you more like comforting someone who tells you that at 6 pm you will become a little bird?
How can I look at my mother without thinking that she was crazy when she told me that at 6 pm I will become a little bird?
I did not know what to do.
I did not know what to think.
But all I managed to do was point to the red dress on the page and say "This dress is perfect for my birthday" with a small smile as I wondered if I should ask my dad to put my mom in.
But now here in my room looking at the tall window as I think about what my mother told me, the only thing I can think of is that when 6 pm comes I'll change into a bird, a little bird.
I quickly look at the small clock that was on my bedside and see that it's just a few minutes to 6 pm, I take a deep breath as I think about everything I've been told.
I would have to find someone who loved me, someone who truly loved me not like all these people around us. I needed to find someone who loved me for who I was and not for my beauty and not for my money.
Sighing I pull my knees up hugging them while I put my head on top of them, I can't believe I'll become a bird at 6 pm, my mother was crazy, she couldn't turn me into a bird.
I laugh a little as I feel a tightness in my chest, it felt like something was writhing inside me, I hug my knees tighter as the pain becomes more and more present, I can feel my bones breaking, breaking as I let out a small moan held back by small sobs that escape my mouth without my permission.
I glance quickly at the little clock and see 18 o'clock on the dot, so it was true, I would be a bird tonight.
I can't contain the panicked scream that escapes my mouth as I hug my knees tighter and lay my head against them, sobs slipping through my lips as the pain becomes more and more intense...
—Calm down, child... The pain will pass, just let her out! - I hear my mother's voice slip around me as the pain comes and goes stronger each moment, I feel her arms encircle me while her sobs make me sob too.
I bring my left hand against the sleeve of her dress and squeeze it.
"Mom..." I whisper between stifled sobs.
—Let the pain out, accept the bird out and then the pain will pass! - She tells me while I take a deep breath and pull the air to me trying to accept the pain but all I feel is relief.
It was as if something inside me was breaking free, something held back and held prisoner, then I open my eyes and see my mother's face so close to me that I startle, her blue eyes are bathing in pent-up tears and a small smile in her eyes. lips is present.
"You are a little bird now, my child! - My mother told me while taking me in her hands making me see her blue eyes with small white tips. - I know it's hard to believe but you're not the first or the last to turn into a bird.
I try to say something else all I can do is let out a little hoot that makes my mom giggle as she smooths my fur, she smiles and then gets up from my bed with me in her warm hands keeping me warm and protected.
"So Delilah changed!" – My dad says with a small sad smile on his lips making me chirp like a little bird making him laugh as he slides his fingertip against my head – Don't worry we'll find your true love before your birthday.
I stand there looking from one to the other, they looked so big and I looked so small, or the fact that I was now in the shape of a bird made it seem like the world was scarier than it already was. Everything was so big and so shiny it made me blink my eyes as I snuggled even deeper into my mother's warm hands.
—Do you think we can find Delilah's true love even on her birthday? her?- My mother asks my father who looks at her with sparkling eyes.
I could see the small silver glint in my father's brown eyes as he smiled at my mother and I could also see the love overflowing in his eyes as he looked at her.
So is this what true love is?
Eyes glowing? silly smiles? Does this all mean true love?
Will I be like this when I find my true love?
No thanks, I don't want to look like a fool like my father is, I don't want to look like an idiot madly in love with someone I'd rather be a bird for life than look like a fool.
I think as I shake myself in my mother's hands, beating the wings that were held between her hands, I writhe all over to try to get out of her hands but all I can do is get more and more trapped between her hands.
-No need to be jealous my little bird, I love you too! My dad says as he runs his fingertip down my face.
Angrily I prick his finger with pleasure making him withdraw his hand as I start to chirp like I'm laughing at my father's face that looked so frightening with his big wide brown eyes.
"Did she just bite her own father?" my dad asks my mom who just shrugs her shoulders as if to say it didn't matter to her making me tilt my head up.
My bird's eyes can't take in the whole environment just the almost hidden smile of my mother who was trying to contain her laughter at the fact that my father looked so scared that his little princess had bitten him.
I give a small laugh that comes out like a gargle that makes my mother glance at me quickly with her blue eyes riveted on me.
"You know your father is going to sulk in a corner of the house tomorrow. She tells me as she brings me up to her eye level, I can see her signs of age more accurately.
The urge to say: Mom, the lady is getting old is very strong but I hold back because I don't know if she can understand what I'm saying, the only thing I do is lean my head against her face while I smooth her pale skin.
—Ah, with your mother you are all love , aren't you? I hear my dad say as my mom just slides her fingertip against my fur making me moan.
It's so nice to be cared for like this, it's like I'm a newborn again, but this time I'm a little bird who must find true love before midnight on his birthday arrives.
I feel like I have a rope around my neck.
-Now you're jealous! My mom said with a small smile on her red lips.
I look at her like it's the first time I've seen her, why does that smile look so bright? Because looking from below can I see why they love each other so much? Was my mother once a bird too?
yellow bird !" she tells me as she looks at me.
—A beautiful yellow bird that always visited me and stayed there by my side listening to me speak ill of herself! My dad said with a small playful smile on his lips as my mom stuck her tongue out at him.
My parents weren't the type of couple who showed their feelings in front of others, I always saw my parents showing their feelings only to each other and alone, I remember once asking my mother why they never leave each other see how much they loved each other, she just looked at me and smiled as she told me that the love they both felt for each other was just their business and not anyone else's.
I always tried to understand what she meant by that but I always laughed when I realized that they were that silly couple from fairy tales I was so fascinated with as a child.
I move between my mother's palms seeing my father lean over to kiss her red lips making me want to bring my hands to my eyes to cover them.
How disgusting, I think as I remember that at that moment I'm a small bird that doesn't even have hands to cover its eyes and not see the scene in front of me.
My God, I can see my father's tongue going into my mother's mouth.
Heck, that's not something a normal person wants to see and doesn't even know what it's like, Dad!
I think as I prick my mother's finger making her release me, I can hear her little groan of pain as I fly into my room wanting to get away from the two that if I wasn't there they would surely be eating each other in the middle of the hallway.
He flew to my bed and I let myself fall on top of it as I snuggle deeper against the soft mattress, with my little wings I try to pull the 100-thread Egyptian sheet for me but I realize that being a bird is not for everyone, so with the beak pulls the sheet towards me.
If someone saw me now, they would say that the bird is domesticated, but it is nothing like that. It's just the little princess of the house in her bird form!
"Enrico, will we be able to save our daughter from the curse?" "I can hear my mom whispering to my dad who just sighs while muttering something I can't understand.
—She is a Brandão, of course she managed to find true love before the curse is fulfilled! —My father says all proud, I can imagine him puffing out his chest while a lock of his black hair covers his one eye making him sigh as he tosses that small lock of hair back with his hand.
—But they are just like me, they will not accept true love until they realize that it is the other who will be able to save them! My mom whispers to my dad, her whisper sounds like a little melody to my ears.
"It won't be that hard to make her realize that he's the one she really loves, Cassandra!" —My father said with a smile making me purr like a little son being taken care of by his parents. —The two of them have lived together for so long that it will be easy to show that they love each other.
My mom lets out a small nasal laugh as if to say she doesn't believe anything my dad said, which was true.
Because even I didn't believe what he said, did I already love someone? Who would that person be, my father must be crazier than my mother.
-Why did you laugh, Cassandra? - I can hear my dad ask my mom as I hear her heels against the floor, I give a little mental laugh as my dad runs after my mom down the hall.
I snuggle even more against the sheet trying to cover myself and escape the reality that at that exact moment fell on me.
I was a bird, a little bird until dawn the next morning because of a curse and I had less than a month to find my true love before I became a bird for life.
I feel good enough to open my eyes making me see my not-so-large room . Whoops , wait, can I see my room the size of it? I get up quickly from the bed making me feel a little dizzy as I pull the sheet towards me, I look at everything around me, the room is not as small as it was last night , I can see the white closet the way it is and not a closet big and scary white.
I look down and see the sheet covering me, hiding my nakedness from the world and preventing others from seeing me naked.
Do you mean to say that it was all just a dream? A dream bad enough to seem so real? Sighing, I throw myself on the bed, the sheet shifts leaving me naked as I look at the white ceiling with little angels designed by a renowned artist whose name I don't know at the moment.
I pull the sheet to cover my head trying to escape reality, but before I can even cover my head completely, the sheet is pulled from my hand with force making me widen my black eyes at my mother who was standing in front of me looking at me with her icy blue eyes.
"I'm glad you woke up, we need to talk!" She tells me in her cold, calculating voice so different from the woman in my dream who looked at me with sparkling eyes and a small sad smile on her lips.
-I do not want! I say as I try to pull the sheet back to me but my mom throws it out of my reach making me have to cover myself with my hands.
"Here, put on that outfit!" -She tells me as she throws me a change of clothes that stops in my lap making me look as she gets up from my bed, my mother was wearing a beautiful aqua green Indian style dress.
I look at the dress that is on my lap and I see a navy blue dress with little black lace all over it, it was all closed.
"Why am I wearing this outfit?" I ask as I pick up the dress tossing it to the side and stand up.
My mother looks at me with her icy eyes and points quickly to my bathroom making it clear that it is for the same to take a shower while she chooses my shoes.
"Mom seriously, why do I have to wear this outfit?" I ask as I enter my bathroom.
I want to understand what's going on but all I can do is take a really hot shower and try my best to prolong it so I don't have to leave my room, because the dream was still fresh in my mind.
—Dalila, get out of this bathroom, we have to talk before we go down! —I hear my mother's voice muffled on the other side of the door making me have to turn off the water that was managing to make me run away from the reality that was knocking on my door.
-Which? I ask as I open the door.
My mother was sitting on my bed with her blonde hair tossed to the side with little braids scattered between her blonde strands she looked at me as she patted the mattress making me arch an eyebrow as if asking what she wanted.