Melanie's Witch Series: Part 9 Bird Cage

Melanie had been so wrapped up in the death of her fiancé, the possible dating situation with James, and now the pregnancy that she had forgotten the bird cage sitting covered in the corner. It was handed down from generations of strong women in her family. It had been in that corner of the living room since she moved in with her fiancé. Legend has it if you put a wish in the bird cage, close the cage, cover it overnight, if in the morning your paper was gone then your wish would come true. The bird cage contained, like so many other ordinary things she owned, magic. It had sat in the corner waiting to be unpacked till she had the perfect spot for it in the house. Well today was that day! She knew exactly where she would put it. She emptied an end table, moved its lamp to another table, and placed the rather large wrought iron black birdcage on the table. “Hmm”, she thought, it was rather cumbersome. Maybe that is why it sat against the wall for so long. No, it will not work on that table, she thought. Melanie put the lamp, magazines, and vase back on the table and looked around the apartment again. It was rather large, she placed it on the floor and it began to tremble. She was not sure what to do with it. It trembled more and toppled over on the floor.

“Well, thought Melanie, now what do I do?”

This bird cage sat in the corner for over a year and nothing ever happened to it, Melanie uncovered it, moved it, and now it is rolling around like it is having fits.

She slowly walked over to where it rolled and noticed a piece of paper had appeared in it. She opened the hinged door gently, feeling like it could eat her hand at any second, she put a finger in, then another, and soon her whole hand and she moved her hand with immense purpose till it reached the paper. She could feel her heart pulsing and the baby started kicking. Even though the baby was only 8 weeks roughly, she knew she should not be able to feel it till she was about 5 months along. Melanie was starting to think the bird cage rolling, the baby kicking, and this piece of paper were all connected.

Melanie unfolded the piece of paper with the slowness of a snail. She was so frightened and confused. Melanie looked down at the paper in her hands. It said one word on it: Lucious. Melanie raced over to her laptop and looked up the word. It was a boy’s name. Its meaning is “light”.

“Was this her baby’s name?” she thought. Her stomach wiggled around like it was happy to hear the word slip from her lips, Lucious. She looked down and talked to her stomach, “Is that your name little one? Are you my son?” Her stomach seemed to be doing flips in joy, but it made her nauseous again. She grabbed some more gingerbread men and began to munch on them and her stomach calmed down.

The birdcage had somehow gotten back into the living room corner and covered itself. This large wrought iron, weighty bird cage seemed to have a mind of its own. It liked the dark corner. It liked being shrouded in a black sheet, and it seemed to only speak when it wanted. Melanie wondered if the legend was true about it granting wishes. She was curious about it and started to walk over to it when it appeared to grumble with vibrations again. Melanie decided she had enough excitement today. She and Lucious would sit and watch TV and eat gingerbread cookies for now.

Melanie woke when she heard her neighbors door slam shut. She had fallen asleep on the couch. Her neck was on a rigid arm rest and the pain in her neck was shooting down to her lower back. She was going to pay for that cat nap in pain. She looked at her watch and it was midnight. The birdcage seemed to be making noises. It had a little hum to it now. It seemed to be snoring and content in the corner covered up. She decided to leave the birdcage be for the night. She walked to her bedroom and peeled her covers down. She decided to climb into bed still dressed, stuck her feet out from the covers kicked off her sneakers,tucked her feet back in,and her head fell into her soft feather pillow. She dreamed of bird cages and gingerbread cookies.

Happy Haunting

xo,

Debbie