30 Oct “I’m flying”
Zorba leaped up on the railing that encircled the bell tower. Below, automobiles were crawling along like insects with glittering eyes.
The human took the gull in his hands.
“No! I’m afraid! Zorba! Zorbal” Lucky cried, pecking at the human’s hands.
“Wait! Set her down on the railing,” Zorba said to the human.
“I wasn’t planning to drop her.” said the human.
“You are going to fly, Lucky. Take a breath. Feel the rain. That’s water. In your lifetime you will have many reasons to be happy. One of them is called water, another is called wind, another sun, and it always comes as a reward after the rain. Feel the rain. Open your wings,” Zorba said patiently.
The gull stretched her wings. The spotlights bathed her with light, and the rain spattered her feathers with pearls. The human and the cat watched her lift her head, with her eyes closed
“Rain. Water. I like them,” she said.
“You are going to fly,” Zorba said again.
“I love you, Zorba. You are the best cat in the world,’ Lucky said, moving toward the edge of the banister railing.
“You are going to fly. The whole sky will be yours.”
“I will never forget you…”
“Fly!” Zorba cried.
“I’m flying! Zorba! I can fly!” she squawked ecstatically from the vastness of the gray skies.
The human stroked the cat’s back
“Well, cat we did it,” he said, sighing.
“Yet At the edge of the void she understood the most important thing of all,” Zorba said.
“Oh, yes? And what was that?”the human asked.
“That only those who dare may fly.”
The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught her to Fly
Luis Sepúlveda
