The man and a bird.

Greg was the owner of a shop. His' was one of those that provided all sort of goods, and this was one of the reason there always was a rush at the shop.

On one fine day, Greg took a break, went outside and sat on the bench. He was looking at the blue sky when he heard some noise. It was the chirping of a bird. The bird was one of those rare types with red feather and crimson fur dotted red in colour, giving it the most elegant look of all. The bird came towards Greg and sat at some distance away from him. It looked like the bird was scared of Greg. Greg looked at the bird and smiled, then went inside and brought some seeds to feed the bird. He threw them at the ground and waited for the bird to eat. At first, the bird hesitated, but finally came and enjoyed the "gift". That was the first day.

Slowly and gradually, there developed a bond between the shopkeeper and the bird. There was not a single day when the bird came and shopkeeper fed it. The bird became so comfortable around Greg that it didn't felt slightest hesitation in feeding directly from Greg's hands. Greg too, felt some kind of happiness in seeing the bird around him. It hopped and jumped and chirped. It was all so wonderful for the shopkeeper. After so hard a day at the shop, he could feel some sort of peace with ruby, that's what he used to call it.

One day, after working for a long time at the shop, Greg took the regular break, went outside and sat on the bench, with seeds in his hands. He waited for ruby to come. After a long wait, he lost all hope and decided to go back. Just as he stood up, he heard the chirping of a bird in the sky. He looked up and at once recognized it to be ruby. He saw the bird taking a high flight and heading North. He smiled and headed towards the shop. He knew that the bird wasn't going to come back. It had finally decided to go back from whence it had come. Deep inside he felt that happiness, of finally seeing ruby fly high. He never wanted it to sit beside him and live with him. He goes inside the shop, sees a long line of customers, takes his usual place and says "May I help you?"...

Next Post: Something definitely concrete or realistic :O ;)