As Birds Fly

This piece is something I wrote about a year ago or so about the end of the world and the last man who is obsessed with birds. I was trying to aim (if anyone knows my style, I like making more questions than answers) for the piece to force the readers to make their own answers instead of reading mine. In that regard I would love feedback if anyone could help me out there. Thanks! And I just want to say that I'm so glad we are doing this, thank you for everyone who posted a story or left comments!

"As Birds Fly"

Silence. That is what has plagued Doctor Hitchcock for some time now. The silence of it all. Time after time he thinks to himself what if. What if he has just been normal and went home every once in a while and not constantly work with his birds. He had been obsessed with his work. He had been obsessed with his life. London hadn’t been the same since the plague hit. People started to die, then order was broken, and finally all civilization finally collapsed. But not Hitchcock, he had been in his bird cage of a lab doing studies of birds and such. He had been in his lab for nearly two weeks straight and when he finally did enter the real world, it just wasn’t there. It had taken nearly two weeks for the whole world to end, and Hitchcock knew nothing of it. He didn’t look for survivors, or look around; he just went back to work. The isolation had gotten to Hitchcock way before the world took a turn for the worse. But now, he had room, he did not condemn himself to the lowly basement in which he worked, but he choose to move his entire lab to a roof of a very high building. Better for the birds he thought.

“Alright Winston, it’s your day to fly.” The Doctor said as he carefully and slowly put his hand into one of the numerous small cages on his roof top sanctuary.

He called it “The Nest” but nobody knew it but him, he was the only survivor of what seemed to be a huge mistake on the part of mankind. The dear doctor didn’t just go crazy, he went full delusional. In love with birds since the early beginning of his childhood, the doctor went to college to become an ornithologist to work with that he loved. When the plague it, it seemed like Doctor Hitchcock was aging near fifty, but in reality he was only in his mid-twenties, stress and knowledge had aged him without remorse. Once a young and fit adventurous man, Doctor Hitchcock had begun to show signs of old age and an uncleanly look to him. Food and sleep were minimal and showers were none existent. The smell of the birds soon became the smell of the man and one became the other.

“Remember to flap my young son, and you will go far in this world.” The doctor said as he petted the small bird and held it in both hands before soon throwing his hands up and letting the bird fly free.

As the bird flies away, the doctor looks over the abandoned city in which he knew little of. He had no family, they had left him. He had no friends, only the birds were his friends. He had made his decision to live among the birds, and one day he was to do just that. The perks of being the only person in the city are that there is nearly an unlimited amount of resources, and for Hitchcock this was good. He had over two hundred birds in his care and took care of each and every one as if they were his own. Sometimes he thought he was their own too. He sometimes read them stories, and other times entertain them, when he wasn’t working on his most profound creation: his own pair of wings.

The fascination of flying was the reason that Hitchcock wanted to study birds. He studied everything he could on them, how their wings developed, their flying patterns, and after careful observation, the matter in which their wings were formed. This coupled with research dating from Galileo and further in history helped to the creation of Hitchcock’s own pair of wings. For years he had planned it out. Now was even a better time to complete this goal as there were very few obstacles in his way. The city was essentially his, and he would have all the time in the world to create the perfect nest for his flock of birds.

“Today, we all learn to fly.” Hitchcock said to his flock of birds. His small birds all had their cages open, ready to fly away from the small nest together. The air was just right. Hitchcock adjusted his wings and his small bag he has which has some necessary goods for any journey.

The fine doctor looked out on the horizon of a city, a city once bustling with people is now barren. He strapped on his goggles so he can see more clearly. He took a deep breath and walked closer to the edge of “The Nest”.

“Today, we fly.” And with this, Doctor Hitchcock jumped from the edge.