Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Caged Bird ❯ Cage ( Chapter 1 )

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Caged Bird
By: Melissa Norvell
Chapter 1: Cage
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The man with short, black hair and eyes such a light color blue that one could call him blind gazed out of a large window in the side of the shrine that he resided in. He was dressed in a set of black, silk-like pajamas and his tall form reflected in the glass. He placed his hand on the cold glass of the window as he peered outside at the steady falling rain. 'It's raining pretty steadily outside. I wonder if it will hinder the Moon Festival next week?' He thought to himself as he turned to retreat to his room, his eyes were still heavy from sleep. 'Why am I so tired lately? Probably because of these dreams that I've been having.'

'Please...Help me...'

'Who is this girl who calls to me in my dreams? Is she even real? Maybe I'm hallucinating. I should get myself together. The festival is soon and I must prepare the shrine - rain or not.' The dark-haired man tried to shake off any visions that could relate to his dream as he dressed himself in his priest attire and stepped to the door, popping out a black umbrella as he stepped out onto the wooden porch. He grabbed a cane and walked down the street in the pouring rain, gently raking the cane over the ground in front of him.

A lone green bird flew from the horizon; it had come from a remote location and landed on his shoulder. The priest flinched at the small contact and looked at the bird. He could not see it very well. To the man's deteriorating vision, it was only a green and white blob but he could hear the small chirps in his ear.

'What a peculiar bird. It's not the color of any bird native to this area.' He thought as the bird hopped down from his shoulder, landed on the ground, then looked up at him and fluttered its tail. The tiny creature flew in front of his face, emitting a low chirp every now and then as it made several passes at his head.

"You seem persistent about something. Maybe I am bothering your nest." His voice was low and calm as the bird continued to fly around his face. "Sorry, I do not have the time," He apologized as he walked past the bird as it made a final attempt at its communication by flying around the man's face and disappearing into the sky.

As he turned his head up to the blurry skies, everything faded away as the image of that tiny, beautiful angel flooded his senses and her song rang through him, clearer than anything he had ever experienced before.

Sitting here

Watching the world

Decay all around me

The essence of life drains

Caged bird with broken wings

Horror picture moving in slow motion

Won't you please...

Please...Help me...

Drowning in despair

Kept in this place

Broken wings cannot fly

Into the garden of Eden

Please...

Please help me...

For my caged heart longs to be free.

Please...

Please help me...

Please...

...

Please help me...

Soon, the priest came upon a quaint little shine that was not far from his own. As he neared the building, he could see a lone priestess, who was dressed in a three layer robe. The outmost layer was purple with a brilliant star pattern in white around the bottom. The innermost layer was the color of a sunset, brilliant oranges and yellows melted together like water color. She wore a white obi (1). The black-haired priestess had short hair that was pulled back into a small ponytail that looked like the end of a wide brush and her eyes matched her eye shadow, a color of deep purple. Red lips smiled as she busily swept the wooden porch and hummed away the tune of a haunting traditional song.

Her eyes glanced over as she caught the man's figure in her line of sight.

"Hello, Zeshen," her mature voice spoke through the pouring rain.

The man bowed. "Greetings, Suzuka," Zeshen neared the steps as his cane carefully tapped each one on the way up.

"I'm just getting ready for the festival. I've been hanging these lanterns all around the shrine," the woman gestured to a trail of lanterns that hung around the roof as she asked if they looked alright to him. She knew that he had poor eyesight but he could at least see the positioning of the lanterns so he could tell her if one was considerably higher or lower than the others.

"They look very good. Nice job," Zeshen took a quick glance before he continued on his way into the shrine but was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Your soul seems troubled. Is there something we can talk about?" Suzuka asked. Her expression was etched with concern.

"You will surely think I'm crazy if I tell you," Zeshen kept his gaze to the inside of the shrine. He knew what Suzuka might think if he told her about his odd dreams that were plagued with pleading songs of a girl that may only exist in his imagination.

"People call me crazy because I can see and speak to the dead. Ever since I was small and a priestess in training, they would call me the Priestess of Spirits. Until this day, I uphold the name with pride. I've always been able to see the dead and with that power came great responsibility and the great cynicism and negativity that went with it. So I'd hardly call you anything of the sort for your beliefs and occurrences in life that seemed more than ordinary." Hearing those words melted his heart as his body relaxed under her touch. Truly, Suzuka Iemhoura was kind and she was just the type of person that he needed at a time like this.

"I've been having these odd visions lately," he began to explain.

"What kind of visions? What do they consist of?" Suzuka asked as she walked around in front of him to talk where he could see that she had not left him. Even if it was just a blob of color that represented a human being, it was better than peering into the darkness of the interior of the shrine.

"There's an angel in my dreams."

"Huh?" The priestess blinked. That was something that she had not expected.

"She keeps calling out to me with this song, something about being trapped and wanting someone to help her. These dreams have been happening for nearly a year. Every time I go to sleep or even think too long about something, she invades my thoughts and starts to sing to me." The priest continued with his story.

"It sounds to me like she's reaching out to you specifically," Suzuka looked thoughtful. It was a message of some kind, but what? ...and why?

"But why?" The young priest wondered the same question.

"Well, the body may be young but I believe that the soul is very old. It constantly changes form and, while it's free-floating you collect ghost particles or lose them, altering your soul and you may or may not remember your past. She knows you somehow. She must. Angels are souls and usually they won't just pick you out. You have to believe in them and accept their help, either at a young age or recently in your old one." The black-haired woman informed.

"Is there any way I can find her?" Zeshen wanted to help her as much as he could, but it was difficult when he only had an image of a place he had never seen before in his mind, and no knowledge of how to get to it.

"Does she tell you anything about her location?" He knew the question would come.

"Not really, just that it's a like a cage to her."

"Have you ever tried to communicate with her in your dream?" Suzuka questioned. If he had, perhaps he could get a location.

"I'm not technically there. It's portrayed as if I'm watching her on television," Zeshen stated.

"You might try that next time. Whether or not you know it, we do have control over the dreams that we have." The Spirit Priestess hoped that she could help him with his problems. Maybe her advice would work in future run-ins with the angel in question.

"I just want to find out what's going on or even if I'm crazy." Perhaps, when he found the answers to that, the dreams would stop plaguing his life and he could have some type of closure.

"Anyone besides me would probably tell you that but I don't believe so," Suzuka smiled. "I think something divine is trying to reach out to you. It knows that you can help it so take the angels hand...and let her guide you."

"So, you believe in angels?"

"Yes."

"You think that I should try and find out where she is and go to her?" Zeshen was a little unsure but willing to give anything a try, he didn't know why, but he felt as if he should help the small angel and that maybe there was a reason that she reached out to him and sang her haunting melody.

"If that's what she's asking you to do, then you should make sure that it's what she wants, so next time that you hear her sing, you should try and contact her," the priestess suggested. Then, he may learn something from her regarding her existence and where she was located. "Question her about her whereabouts and what her goal is."

"I'll do that," the man walked past her, into the shrine and began to set some of the tables that had been placed around the wide room. "Suzuka?"

"What is it?" The woman turned from her position at a table across from him.

"Have you ever seen a green and white bird around here?" He asked. It couldn't hurt to wonder about the little creature. It had plagued him so much during the rain shower that it too, seemed as if it were calling out to him. Zeshen wondered if it may have had some connection to the angel.

"No, what does it look like?" She asked. The priestess had never seen a bird that color. It seemed a little off to her.

"It was a medium-sized bird with a white belly and green feathers." He had gotten a good glance at it when it was flying so close to him, and the patches of color were so big that even someone with vision as bad as his could have noticed. "You like birds, so I thought that you would know what it was."

Suzuka spent a good chunk of her time researching many types of birds as a side hobby. She was a peaceful woman and she loved to bird-watch. It seemed like something that she could help him with.

"A Red-Eyed Vireo?" The priestess thought for a while with one finger to her chin. There were not many large green birds like that, especially ones that were native to Japan. While the Red-Eyed Vireo was not a native bird to Japan, it was the only green bird that really looked like that in which she could recall.

"Is that what it was?" Zeshen inquired. From the sound of the woman's voice, she didn't seem too sure on her answer.

“They aren't native here," Suzuka was perplexed. Was she sure that this bird was what she claimed that it was? "The farthest they went was South America and that was in the winter time." If the mystery bird in question was a Red-Eyed Vireo, then it was very odd and rare for one to be in Japan at all.

"Maybe it was imported from another country," Zeshen brought up a point. Some animals snuck aboard ships. Maybe the bird had its nest in a merchant's ship that ended up in Japan? It was a nice theory at least.

"Could be, if that's really what it is. I didn't see it and you know how bad your eyes are." Suzuka informed. It could have been a different bird entirely. Even Zeshen knew that relying on his eyesight was taking a huge gamble.

"I can only see blurs of color but I know its size and coloration," any other features were nondescript.

"It just seems really strange that a Red-Eyed Vireo appeared here in Japan." There was something not right about the incident entirely and Suzuka could not figure out what it was for the life of her.

"I thought so too but it's what I saw," Zeshen knew that he probably saw that specific type of bird. It was unlike any bird that he'd ever seen in Japan. It may have been the only one that existed in their country.

"This angel..." Suzuka looked perplexed by the many mysteries that had been dumped on her. "Can you see her clearly?"

"Yes, more clearly than I've seen anything in my life. This is the one thing that I've never been surer of." The priest insisted. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, that girl's face was the only clear image that he'd ever seen and his vision had been horrible all of his life.

It was the first clear image that he'd ever seen, even if it was a dream.

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That night, while the man slept, the angel appeared to him once more. It was a small girl with shoulder-length brown hair that had been dressed in the same lolita-like attire, complete with her infamous bonnet.

'It's her...' Zeshen thought, but as quickly as he'd seen her, the shy girl turned away. 'Wait!'

It was as if she heard his plea and turned around. Her image zoomed in his mind and a familiar sound rushed through his senses as the girl neared him with arms wide-open and a child-like smile on her face.

'Wings flapping?'

"Who? Who are you?" He asked but only received a cryptic message in reply.

Please...Please help me...

Slowly, his visions faded to that fated bird cage, adorned with plants and trees where the angel who had appeared so many times before had been present. She sat on a bird swing that had been grown over with some sort of climbing vines. She stayed there and gazed at him with a worried expression.
"Will you be the one to save me?" Her words were pleading and frightened. So much so that it made his soul quiver.

It was so disturbing that it caused him to sit straight up in bed. His eyes were widened and only one thought ran through his head.

'I never asked her of her name.'

XxXxXx

The night of the Moon Festival was upon him and his visions had still not faded. If anything they were stronger than they ever were before he had attempted to come into contact with the winged girl. He watched as the people who came to celebrate the festival rode around in the river boats and ate at the tables that he and Suzuka had prepared. The air was filled with happiness and celebration and the large, harvest moon glowed pastel orange in the night sky.

As he gazed at the source of the glow, a flashback of something Suzuka had mentioned to him ran through his thoughts.

'I think something divine is trying to reach out to you. It knows that you can help it. So take the angels hand...and let her guide you.'

The priestess looked across to see her friend gazing at the moon and thought to herself. 'I hope that you can be happy, Zeshen. I know your life hasn't been the best. I can only hope that this angel who reaches out to you so desperately - is your guardian angel.' After a moment of silence, she finally spoke up, making her presence known.

"I can only hope that this is a message from God and not an omen of death. The spiritual level is high tonight. They must be in good spirits because of the festival. The dead truly do dance among us." Suzuka peacefully smiled up at the orange moon.

It was nice to see that even the dead were having a good time. That, beyond anything else, made her spirit soar.

"That's just like you, Suzuka," Zeshen smiled at his friend. He was glad that she was so serene.

"I didn't notice you there," when she last looked at him, he was a lot farther away. He must have noticed her and walked towards her when she wasn’t paying attention. Suzuka was glad that it piqued his interest. She had wanted to check up on his progress.

"I just came to tell you that I was going to take a river ride." He didn't want to worry the other priestess and have her looking for him all night, so the blind man wanted to tell her of his plans. Zeshen knew that she worried about him because of his condition.

"Are you going to take one of the tea boats, or will you take a private one?" The priestess questioned.

"The team boats are for people, not priests. I'll take the small boat," Zeshen told her. The private boat would be enough, besides, the tea boats were specifically meant for the tourists and people of Japan. He had no right to ride one.

"I was just going to prepare the tsukimi-dango, satoimo and susuki (2) for those who wanted to eat by moonlight." Suzuka told him of her next agenda. He nodded and then the short-haired woman asked if he wanted her to prepare any food for him.

"No, I'll be gone for a while," Zeshen told her.

"Will you be back for the annual flute and harp concert at Osawa Pond by Daikaku-ji Temple(3)?" She asked.

"I don't think so."

"What?" Suzuka was confused. Just how long did the man plan on being gone? The concert wasn't until a time later, so she thought that he would surely attend. What was he thinking by skipping out on all of these events?

"I want to search for her," Zeshen said with determination. Since the spirit reading was high, maybe he could find her more easily and he would start by heading across the lake to the place where the Red-Eyed Vireo had flown.

"The angel?"

The man nodded, "I'll be gone for a while. I hope that you can manage Daikaku-ji Temple while I'm gone."

"Yes, and if you find her, please come back." Suzuka wanted to know of his progress and how his communication with the girl turned out. The priestess was also interested in the message that the girl was trying to send. So many things could benefit her understanding of the dead and angels themselves from his journey.

"Of course, I'd like to show her to you," Zeshen smiled.

"I wish you good-fortune," Suzuka would pray for him every day at the shrine, in hopes that he would one day return to her with the angel from his dreams.

The two of them met at the edge of the lake as they said their good-byes and Zeshen set sail, headed in the direction of the woods in which the Red-Eyed Vireo headed. He had a feeling that if he continued in that direction that he would find out where the angelic girl was located. He wondered if that is what the mysterious bird had been trying to show him.

The cool night wind blew through his hair as his sights stayed transfixed on what lay ahead of him. The man then glanced up at the moon again and from his position on the lighted waters, it bathed his form in a brilliant milky light. 'The Harvest Moon is beautiful tonight. I wonder if you can see it too. Where are you? What's your name? What's wrong with you? Why are you reaching out to me like this? I don't even know who you are or where you are...Why? I don't understand...'

The priest inquired so many things about this girl, for he knew nothing, but he was compelled to find her and help her with whatever problems that she was facing.

He closed his eyes and faintly caught wind of her voice, carrying that same, haunting tune.

'Kept in this place

Broken wings cannot fly

To the Garden of Eden

Please...'

Then, her voice became as clear as day, breaking the blur between dream and reality.

Please help me...

"Huh?" Zeshen's eyes popped open as he could hear her voice as if she were standing next to him.

It was no longer a dream, but a voice that rang in reality.

I call out to you

Please...

Please help me...

...To Be Continued...

NOTES

Obi- A sash that wraps around the waist. It's worn by those who wear the traditional kimono.

Tsukimi-dango, satoimo and susuki- They are foods that are to be eaten in the moonlight on the night of the Moon Festival. Sometimes, at the Festival of the Moon, people like to eat by moonlight and enjoy themselves.

Osawa Pond by Daikaku-ji Temple- a real place in Japan where a flute and harp concert is held during the time of the Moon Festival.