• I am the Bird trapped in Bird Street.

    To the customers Bird Street is a beautiful and wonderful place full of exotic winged creatures that are being sold by the sweet and well dressed children of the Fēng Kingdom. But behind innocent their innocent smiles are caged baby pigeons.

    All the children of Bird Street are orphans. No parents. No homes. No freedom. Each child is named after the type of bird they sell. The customers find it easier that way. My name is Gēzi and I am the Dove seller of Bird Street. The stall next to mine used to belong to Jīnsīquè but she tried to escape during the last spring Festival. It surprised us all when she did. She usually stayed quiet and invisible. She could’ve made all the way too but she stopped right at the Gates of Fēng. Canaries are content with remaining in their Cages so I guess she was too scared to leave. The Guard Gates didn’t try to stop her. They knew none of us could be able to leave the Cage. She disappeared after that day. It was like she never even existed. The stall now belongs to Yīng the Eagle seller. He’s a very strange one. He’s the smallest of us all but handles the biggest birds Bird Street could offer. Definitely a strange one. He always talks to me about becoming a famous explorer. Traveling to every corner of the world and living free with nothing holding him back. But his dreams distract him from doing his work which angers the customers and the Guards. I do my best to help him out every once in a while but I have my own problems to deal with.

    The sun is setting and you can see the sky changing colors. Reds, yellows, golds and oranges colored the sky as blues and purples paint over it. It’s time for the children of Bird Street to go back “home” to the orphanage house. There are basically two rooms. One for eating and one for sleeping. The money we earn goes to the Palace which gives us our daily serving of rice, floor we sleep in and the roof we hide in. Each child of Bird Street receives one set of clothes which used to belong to the royal children of the palace. Every year we get a new set and we pass down our old clothes to the younger members. Dressing nicely fools the people who walk in our Bird Street.

    I am the oldest in the house, experiencing seventeen Spring Festivals. Yīng is currently the youngest having only seen seven Spring Festivals. Jīnsīquè could’ve seen six by now.
    When all the young ones fell asleep I climb up the orphanage house to the roof. It’s the only place I know off that’s quiet enough to let me think. I don’t really think of anything important, I just think about the places beyond those Gates.

    “…Gēzi…”

    I turn around fast and bow. It must be a night Guard. They come around every midnight to check our belongings for stolen property. We may be orphans but we certainly are not thieves. After a minute of silence I carefully look up checking if the Guard was still there.

    “…Gēzi can I tell you something?”

    It is Yīng.

    “Yīng what are you doing up here? This no place for such a small child! What if you fell from the house? Who would’ve taken cared of your birds? Certainly not I. Do you know how angry the Guards would’ve have been? They would’ve thrown you out of the Kingdom! If you wish to stay he-“

    “Don’t worry. I don’t”

    “…What do you mean?”


    “I’m going home tomorrow Gēzi.”

    “What are you talking about? This is home Yīng”

    “This house is not a home! Bird Street is not a home! This Kingdom is not a home! Everything around us is the Cage! We’re all going to suffocate here if we don’t! Whether you approve of it or not I’m leaving.”

    “But where will you go? There is nothing for you out there!”

    “I’m a bird Gēzi. I’m not supposed to know where my home is. I just keep flying until I find one.”

    I never knew such words could come out of such a young child.

    I feel like the sun rose to early today. Yīng is actually working this morning oddly enough. He probably forgot about his silly plans of leaving. We all do eventually. But I was wrong. As I got out female dove from its cage, Yīng released all of his. The Guards, for the first time, are in complete chaos. Eagles are hopping and flying everywhere. One even managed to stun one of the Guards. I couldn’t help but laugh. During all the commotion Yīng managed to make a run for it. Something took over my body at that moment. Something wild and unpredictable. Something that made me do something I never thought I could do: Run. It was more like flying really. The wind keeps flowing with my dress and through my hair. I feel so alive. I manage to catch up Yīng and we are both laughing. He is laughing because he never thought of me as a runner. I’m laughing because I wasn’t sure if I was running to get him or to pass him! I see the Gates only a few meters away! The people of Fēng stare at us and did their best to stay out of our path. With the last amount of energy we both had left, we leapt out the Gates. It’s as if the spirit of all who weren’t able to leave the Cage helped us fly out. I felt their dreams of freedom flow through my veins.

    I am the Bird who flew away from Bird Street.