Smile

After dinner, Stacy did what she had done almost every night for the past week - went up to her room, moved her bed and opened the trap door. She closed her eyes and marched down the steps determinedly. She promised herself that she wouldn’t open them until she knew that she had begun her next adventure. But because her eyes were closed, she couldn’t see, and around the fourth step, she tripped and went sprawling down the remainder of the stairs. Stacy braced herself for the hard landing, but surprisingly, she didn’t feel any pain. She felt quite light and once she had landed, she tilted her head upwards and slowly opened her eyes. She was greeted by a plethora of green; so much green in fact, that Stacy thought perhaps she had fallen into a bowl of broccoli soup, or a big bag of grass. This doesn’t look too promising, she thought to herself. Stacy shook her head to clear her eyes and heard a strange whooshing sound. She tried to reach up and rub her eyes, but she was confronted with a very strange problem. She had no arms! Or hands, or fingers! What Stacy saw when she looked down caused her to let out an audible gasp. Except it wasn’t really a gasp, but more of a squeaky croak. For Stacy wasn’t Stacy anymore, she was a bird. Stacy had been frightened enough when she found herself in Ancient Greece wearing strange clothes. But to find herself in a completely different body was almost too much for Stacy and she began to cry. Big, soggy tears dripped from her beady, black eyes onto the white feathers surrounding them. Two or three tears were big enough to roll right off the white feathers and make their way down Stacy’s long, pointy black beak before splashing onto the ground. Another tear rolled all the way down Stacy’s neck and nestled into the vibrant red feathers that covered her neck and back. She took one of her wings and attempted to brush the last tear away, but she couldn’t bend the long yellow and blue feathers towards her eyes. Her sharp, black talons clenched against the ground as she took a deep breath (she could still do that) and decided that she had better stop being a baby and get on with the adventure. She was learning just to accept whatever happened when she ventured down the stairs. She could smell wet vegetation as the warm air swirled around her face. Stacy started walking along the uneven ground, which was difficult to do with the long red feathers of her tail dragging along behind her. “I’m a parrot, aren’t I?” she said to no one in particular, but hoping that someone, or something, would respond. Where do parrots live? she thought to herself. “The rainforest!” she remembered. “Yes, that’s right,” she heard from her left and looked over. “You’re in the rainforest.” Standing on a big, grey boulder was another colourful bird, about the same size as Stacy. “Are you a toucan?” she asked. “You’re awfully quick today,” replied the bird. “A talking toucan. That’s strange.” “You’re a talking parrot yourself. What’s so weird about a talking toucan?” Stacy had forgotten that she was a bird. Not just any bird though, a beautiful bird, like the toucan she was talking to. His black body was shiny and clean. “Do you have a name?” Stacy asked the toucan, looking carefully at the spot where his black feathers met light yellows feathers to cover the bottom of his neck. Feathers of pure orange surrounded his eyes and Stacy was reminded of a favourite sweater she’d had as a toddler. “No, not really. We don’t use names in the rainforest. What are you looking at?” Stacy couldn’t help but notice the toucan’s exquisite beak. The long, thick bill started off in a light shade of orange and gradually darkened into red. Stacy could even see flecks of yellow in some parts. It looked like a mini rainbow sticking out from his head. “I, uh, I just think that your beak is really beautiful.” “Thank you,” said the toucan, flying off, his short black tail feathers flapping in the air. “Wait!” cried Stacy. “Don’t leave me!” “Well, come on then. I don’t have all day, you know!” he said, looking back at Stacy. “All day for what?” she inquired, straining to lift herself off the ground. “To show you around the rainforest. There’s a lot to learn here.” Stacy was beginning to the think that everyone thought that she was brainless. “I know a lot about the rainforest already! Really! I studied it in school last year.” “Yes, but have you ever been in one?” “Well, no,” she admitted. “There’s the difference. You’ll see.” The toucan observed Stacy jumping off the ground and landing right back on her talons without getting anywhere near taking off. He turned around and flew back to help her. “What’s wrong?” “I can’t fly. I’ll never keep up with you.” “You’re a parrot! Of course you can fly!” “No, actually, I’m a little girl, and little girls can’t fly!” she said, angrily. “You think you’re a little girl. Forget about that. You have to believe you are a parrot!” “Hrumph,” Stacy mumbled and tried her hardest to forget who she was. She closed her eyes and imagined flying effortlessly over the canopy of the rainforest, looking for food. She tentatively jumped up and came right back down. “Don’t jump! Glide! Use your wings!” Without opening her eyes, Stacy extended her wings out to the side and flapped them up and down very slowly. Nothing. “That’s better! Try again!” encouraged the toucan. Stacy took a deep breath, pushed all little girl thoughts out of her mind and flapped her wings, once, twice and finally three times. She felt her feet leave the ground and her stomach drop. She was flying! If only she’d remembered to open her eyes…