See the Birdies: #1

I am posting a series of selected journal entries here on the blog, and numbering them as I go along. They are collection of short stories, musings, observations, and happenings, and I do hope you enjoy them.

I broke John Langham's door. Busted it right off the hinges. It all started after dinner tonight when John Langham invited me to his hut to see his new birds. He warned me to be quiet, as they would be sleeping, and then he and my husband headed off to return the ambulance to the clinic. This left me all alone to satisfy my curiosity. It was dark, and the sole light emanated from the porch lamp, so I navigated through the darkness by the glow of my cell phone flashlight. I stood on the threshold and lifted my hand to the doorknob. I twisted it in my palm, and though the handle turned, the door didn't budge. Not one inch. I concluded that the humidity had caused the wood door to swell, and decided to put my weight into moving the door open by force. Turning the knob once more, I heaved myself at the wooden panel. Stuck. Undeterred, I doubled my efforts and shoved with all my might. I wanted to see those birds.

I felt the door give way, but instead of swinging open, it began to tilt down on top of me. The tiny screws that held the hinges had all come out at once, and suddenly I was trapped - attempting to hold the door up and keep myself from being crushed beneath its weight. As I struggled to wedge the door back into the frame, it crossed my mind that John was playing a nasty trick on me. Sending me up to his place, alone, in the dark, to "see the birds," after having booby trapped the his door. And I fell for it...

In the midst of these thoughts, I had managed to squeeze the door back in the frame, and then I ventured inside to take a peek at John's birds. They were nestled together, sleeping, and one had its head tucked beneath it's wing. They were very sweet. John had built the cage himself, and it was an intricate piece of art. I left the birds to their peaceful slumber and shut the unhinged door as best I could before I shot John a text. "What's with your door?"

It turned out that he didn't prank me. Both John's were surprised that I had managed to bust out the door. All in a day's work.