Stumbling Upon Feathers

A short story about learning how to love

One day in Africa, I found a feather freshly fallen and I put it in my pocket for safe keeping.

An hour later, I pulled it out only to find that it had gotten all mashed up. I was disappointed. I really wanted to keep that feather in tact. But alas, it was a mangled mess.

At first, I was hard on myself. Why didn’t you take better care of it? I thought. The only reasonable answer I could think of was that I simply didn’t know how.

I slipped the broken feather into my folio where I hoped its shape would be restored as I went upon my way.

Weeks later, while walking through New York City, I stumbled upon another feather. I didn’t have a bag with me nor did I trust my pockets, so I carried that feather around in my hand all day. And once I got home, I went to slip it into my folio for safekeeping. To my surprise, I found my first feather fully healed.

I realized that feathers, like human hearts, are easy to mash up — especially when we don’t how to give them proper care. But we can learn. We can repair. And we can discover anew.

Here. We. Go.

Love, Jmw.