Cage

Clickity click. Tackety tack.

Sitting in his cubicle, the sound of the final edits Aaron makes to the daily pile of chapters blends in with the drone of typing at his editing firm. He fixes his tie and pats down his business suit - all grey, and as his coworkers like to joke, a perfect match to the boring walls of the office.

Not that it matters to Aaron. He has long since grown used to the routine grind of his work. It was because of his twenty long years of experience that he is respected and more importantly, left alone most of the time.

Aaron gets up from his chair and heads out the company door, greeting goodbye to his coworkers and boss. Tomorrow, he thinks to himself, tomorrow will be a new day.

His boss had requested that he head to Singapore to meet the "writer that will finally give this editing firm the breakthrough it sorely needs." Of course, there was no arguing with the boss.

At the dawn of the new day, Aaron was already at the airport. Flight number 4625. He had packed lightly, following the minimalist's approach with the exception of Birdy, his pet swallow.

"All right Birdy, time to fly," Aaron mutters, fully aware of the irony as he places the caged bird on the check-in counter, causing the bird to flit about nervously.

Awkwardly squeezing himself onto the first empty blue seat he finds on the plane, Aaron goes over his plans after landing. He would have to meet with the writer almost immediately after the 19 hour flight.

Drifting into a self-absorbed loop, why now? Aaron wonders. In his younger years, he had always wanted to travel to a different country, yet time and time again obstacles would appear to deter him from his dreams. Now, at age 40, it was like the universe was sending him a belated gift, deflated from the crushing force of all the past demotivation.

Still, upon landing, Aaron rushes over to the luggage pickup area and retrieves Birdy. Quickly checking his phone for the meeting location (Starworks Cafe), he waves for a taxi and gives the directions to the driver.

"Here we are, sir."

"Thank you. Here's the money."

5 minutes left. Aaron jumps out of the car and trips over the edge of the door. Birdy's cage bounces off the hard concrete causing the lock to chip. Terrified, the poor bird is released into the city.

"Oh godswhodunnit! Birdy!" Aaron scrambles after the bird, pushing person after person aside.

But it was no use. The bird was gone.

Dejected, Aaron turns back towards the cafe, head hung low, cage empty and broken, time indicating that he was seven minutes late to the meeting.

"Hey, is this your bird?"

"Huh?" Aaron raises his head to see a small blue tinted bird perched on the shoulders of the savior - an asian woman holding a book titled "A Million Ways to Enhance Your Life."

"Yes, thank you! How did you know? How did you find him?" Aaron gasps.

"I saw you chasing after him and well, I happen to be good with birds myself. The name's Swallow by the way. Like your bird." Swallow says.

"Oh, actually, I think I'm supposed to meet with you about your book."

"Oh, well isn't that another interesting coincidence? It's funny how life is like that sometimes. I think that's why it's important to get out. You never know what might happen."

Mildly surprised, Aaron hums a soft agreement to Swallow's response and proceeds with the questions he prepared earlier. By the time the meeting finished, Aaron felt pleased and duly satisfied...

Maybe he'll travel again sometime.