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Cardinal Companion (14) : In the dismal whites and blues and greys of winter, the bright red splash of a cardinal is a welcome difference. It’s not uncommon to see birds out and about, and it’s easy to spot these especially after a fresh snow. Wild birds typically mind their own business and don’t really care about you–except, this one does. An unusually curious cardinal finds you the subject of interest in its day, and oddly enough–it feels familiar to you. You can’t explain it, but the moment your eyes land on it, it feels like coming face to face with someone dear to you. The cardinal isn’t afraid of you and feels comfortable enough to approach you, or maybe even land on you. Perhaps it’s even brought you some small gift. The more time you spend with it, the more you pick up on its unique habits, which seem to have an uncanny resemblance to someone you’ve lost. Sometimes the cardinal even smells of them, or has similar traits. The cardinal doesn’t ever stay for long but when it leaves there is an undeniable feeling that someone very important to you has paid you a visit.
It wasn’t often that Bindhi found herself with either husband or children when she went out. But Christmas-time demanded alone time if she ever expected to get her gift buying done without perpetually curious kids nosing about. Fortunately, Angus liked having the kids to himself and was happy enough to keep them out of trouble so she could play Elf. Then, he’d get his turn at playing Santa in a couple of weeks. It would all work out.
A streak of brilliant red distracted her from her thoughts as a little cardinal zipped by her nose, trilling and chirping. Coming to a surprised halt, she watched as the small bird flew around her.
“Sorry, Birdie, I don’t have any seeds for you,” she said in a soft, coaxing voice. “I guess I could add that to my list. The kids would lose their damn minds if they got to feed the local wildlife…”
The cardinal trilled again and seemed to hover in the air before Bindhi’s face, head tilting this way and that as if clearly studied her. Then, it flew up into the air before diving and coming in to land on Bindhi’s shoulder. It preened at its wings before tapping gently at the gauges in her ears with its beak. It seemed happy enough, making soft little singing noises to itself. For her part, Bindi stood frozen, afraid to move and scare the brave little bird away. She was finally getting her Disney Princess moment and she was not about to spoil it. It was funny though, she thought as she slowly held up a finger to delicately stroke the bird’s chest, the bird was acting as if she was its best friend. The way it preened at her reminded her of the way Bianca had once played with her hair…
Mid stroke, the cardinal hopped onto her finger and perched there, seemingly content to visit. As she carefully and oh so slowly moved to bring her hand to where she could look at the bird closely, it burst into a little song. Whistling gently, Bindi mimicked the notes and the cardinal seemed pleased, bobbing along as it sat on her hand. At one point, Bindi would have sworn that the cardinal corrected her as it sang its song again but seemed to put emphasis on a particular note. When she whistled the notes back, it flapped its wings excitedly, taking off to have what could only be bird zoomies before coming back and landing directly in Bindhi’s palm.
“Oh, you are a daring one, aren’t you, little friend?” she cooed, happily petting the bright red feathers. It was funny, the cardinal’s song and little corrections reminded Bindhi so much of Bianca. She’d always been singing or humming and whenever Bindhi had tried to join in, she’d be corrected for singing in the wrong key. Just thinking about it made tears well up in her eyes. But this time, the memories didn’t hurt.
“You’re just like her, you know,” she said softly as she stroked the bird’s cheeks with a fingertip. “Just as brave and ready to get in my face as she was. I swear, you even look at me like she did…”
The familiarity was so strong that she was having a hard time not calling the cardinal by her lost friend’s name. It felt like she had Bianca there with her, putting a friendly arm around her shoulder.
Suddenly, the cardinal sang again and this time, it really did sound just like the music Bianca used to sing for her. Then, with a satisfied peep, the bird shot out of her hand, flew around her head a couple of times and then off into the misty grey sky. Bindi watched the red dot until she couldn’t see it anymore, feeling like she’d just been said goodbye to. She stood a few moments more, watching the sky and half hoping that the cardinal would come back. When it didn’t, she sighed and shook herself. Dashing the tears from her eyes, she smiled and waved at the sky.
“I love you, too, Bianca,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
Bianca had never liked it when she’d put off the things she needed to do for too long. And shopping for kids was time consuming. She needed to get going. As she resumed walking, she smiled a little as a soft, far off song hung in the air for a moment, barely even an echo.
As far as Christmas gifts went, feeling like Bianca had just come for a friendly visit was in the top 3 for sure.
Word Count = 772
