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The right foot does not rise more than a span from the ground. How does Brandon move then?
His father really had to try and sundown him, what stupidity. He was sent in jail so Brandon didn’t need to worry. His leg was hurt badly by the shotgun his father used to try and sundown him.
Brandon’s cousin, Amanda told his mother, 'Don't worry, the wound has already been cured. Now leave him with his best friend’s mother for three months, and see how he gets better.'"
Mother also said the same thing, "Well, what else do you think, Brandon? Besides, there's that funny boy over there, laughing and playing, and you'll spend your day."
But studying? Brandon was very good at studying. He spent three months lying down, three months learning to walk with an iron frame on his feet. If he spends another three months at his best friend’s house, won't he forget all his studies?
Mother said, "Why are you so worried about studying? The tutor of Ozo’s house will teach you too."
Amanda reassured, “It's enough that you've survived, otherwise it's only been a year of loss, so what's the point of such an inconvenience?"
Sparten and Sony will all go to the next class, while Brandon will be left behind, even thinking about it makes him cry. Brandon’s eyes become blurry.
In the large room on the second floor of Ozo’s house, sitting in an armchair by the large window, he looks out at a pond in the distance, where thousands of drops of rainwater are falling and immediately merging with the water of the pond. Slowly, Brandon tries to lift his leg a little again.
It's evening, the rain has stopped, the water in the lake is sparkling white.
Suddenly, something like a shadow descended from the sky onto the hill. Brandon saw it and saw a white, pale ash falling in a flock.
Bright wild geese are waddling into the water.
Ozo came with a bunch of white flowers in his hand, and said, "Look, the wild geese are back. What fun for hunters! Oh, if only I had an air gun."
Brandon said, "It's good that you don't have a gun. How would you want to kill such a beautiful bird!"
Ozo’s mother also came into the room and said, "Yes, that's their only thought!"
Brandon said, "Where did they come from?"
"As soon as winter sets in, they fly in flocks from the cold northern countries, rest for two or three days near the dam, and then fly south again. It is said that some even fly over the sea to the hills of other other countries."
Ozo scooted closer to Brandon and placed the flowers on Brandon’s lap and said, "They all come back in droves at the end of winter, didn't you tell me that, mother?"
Almost immediately after Ozo’s words, the distant sound of gunfire boomed. Brandon flinched but Ozo held him close trying to comfort him. The flock of wild geese left the water from the gunshot and flew into the sky, cawing briefly before landing back in the water.
The next morning, when Ozo’s mother had left, Brandon looked out the window and saw a small, grey-coloured wild goose sitting, somehow clinging to a branch, behind the leaves of the lemon tree. Its long, narrow black beaks were a bit agape, its legs were together, its chest was almost white, its eyes were staring straight into Brandon’s, its eyes were like black velvet. One wing was drooping slightly, a little bit of blood had stained it’s feathers, and its whole body was trembling.
Seeing the bird, Brandon started to feel pain inside his throat; he raised his hand and said, “You have no fear. Don’t be scared.” The bird closed its eyes, opened them again. And sat down against the branch for a while.
Ozo peeked over Brandon’s shoulder annd hugged him by his waist and saw the bird. "Oh! The poor thing has a bullet in its wing. If you tie it with lime and turmeric, it might be cured. Just tell me to catch it and bring it to you."
Brandon said, "But what will your mother say?"
"What else is she going to say? She will say, ew, ew, ew, throw away the dirty things, they can’t survive!"
Brandon said loudly, "It will definitely survive. If you tie its wings with lime and turmeric and keep it in a warm place, it will definitely survive."
Ozo asked, "In which warm place?" While playing with Brandon’s hair a bit.
"Why? In my bed. In the blanket!"
"Look, don't let anyone notice."
"How would you know? I make my own bed. The doctor told me to move my arms and legs. Well, if you try to catch it, it won't fly away, will it?"
"With your intelligence. Can you fly on one wing?"
"What will it eat, Ozo?"
Ozo couldn't think of what to feed it in the bed. What if it died without eating?
"Can we do one thing, Brandon? I'll make a basket and a nest for him on the branch of a lemon tree, so he won't fall with his broken wings again, he'll catch insects and eat them himself."
In an instant, Ozo, carrying the basket, went outside and landed the basket on the branch of a lemon tree. The bird fell in fear and what! Ozo caught it with his hands, but its wings flapped and stung, drawing blood from Ozo’s arms and elbows. Ozo tied the basket tightly with a rope and slowly placed the bird inside it.
Then the bird closed its eyes as if half-dead and buried its beak in its good wing.
Ozo applied the yellow ointment he had used to treat his wounded leg to the spot and came back into the house through the window. He said, "Don't tell my mom. She might tell you not to touch that."
Brandon can't walk well, and the bird can't fly either. If he could, he would have gone to his flock in the far bank. He wouldn't be lying quietly in a basket on a tree branch with his face buried in his wings. If Brandon’s legs were healthy, Brandon wouldn't be here either. He would have stayed with his mother, gone to school every day, learned to finally swim in the evenings, and practiced running every day. Brandon may never be able to run again. He can't find the strength in his legs anymore and can't lift more than a span off the ground. It feels like that his injured leg has become a little shorter than the other.
Brandon at once again stared outside the window and looked at the bird closely, and there was no doubt that it could not move its wings. The bird was sitting in the basket, slowly cleaning its chest feathers with its black beak. Then it lay silently for a while, resting its beak on it, and closed its eyes; then it opened its eyes again and plucked something from the branch of the tree.
Brandon threw a little biscuit from the small biscuit box under the pillow. The bird froze as if frozen. It didn't even want to turn back to the biscuit. Brandon sat back on the bed and tried to read the new story book. Fifteen minutes later, he peeked out the window again. While cleaning its chest feathers, the bird caught something in the lemon tree and ate it again.
The bird was moving a little on the branch of the tree, making a sound, scared of the wood, when Ozo’s mother saw it, he said to her husband, "Throw it away, it's so dirty, take the basket and bring it here. Who tied it there?”
Brandon looks out the window and sees that the bird is sleeping. Brandon also goes to bed with the story book and sleeps. Suddenly there is a noise outside the window. He is startled to see a yellow cat climbing up a tree branch. Brandon felt afraid. The cat tried to attack the bird. But what will it eat, such a big bird is so strong! It pecked hard on the head of the cat, making it run away. The two crows watched the fun from a distance, but did not dare to come closer.
Brandon stood up straight and started walking from head to head, he was determined, wouldn't walking like this help his legs grow stronger? When Brandon walked twice and sat down on the bed, his legs were already sore, but it seems as if the right leg is being lifted a little more than a span.
Days passed like this, the wild duck's wings slowly healed. Two days later, the flock of birds flew south from the lake. Sitting on a branch of a tree, the bird began to flap its wings. What an effort it made to fly! But why would a broken wing bear the weight, the duck slipped from the basket and got stuck in the gap of the lower branch. Ozo still hadn’t returned from school.
He stood by the window and watched, the bird hung there numb for a long time, then scratched and climbed onto the branch itself. Ozo came back and picked it up again and put it in the basket. It did knock it a little, but nothing serious, Ozo applied medicine to its wings again.
Days passed like this, the bird gradually recovered, climbing from the basket to the branch. And Brandon, in his joy, walked around the house, made his own bed, bathed himself, and ironed his clothes. He took a nap in the afternoon and sat down to do his math. He wrote a letter home, "Mom, don't worry, I'm getting better every day. Tell Brie that I'll take the exam."
A month passed like this. One day, it rained heavily. The bird hid behind the branches of the tree under the basket. Then, when the rain stopped and the sun came out again, the bird spread its wings and Brandon, who was surprised to see that its wings had healed.
Two days later, at noon, a large flock of wild geese flew overhead in a formation like an arrow. The goose, for some reason, suddenly left the branch and flew high, but then came down again and sat on the grass. The geese also came down. The bird kept looking in that direction.
The next morning, when the wild geese took to the sky in a group after resting all night, Brandon’s bird also joined them. Although it was far behind the group, the way it kept flying, Brandon and Ozo had no doubt that it would catch up with them in no time.
That afternoon, Brandon walked downstairs on his own, his right leg feeling not even a little short.
Brandon said, "Miss Ofelio, it won't matter if the leg is a little short, I can walk quite well. Even the wild goose has a little short wing."
Ozo’s mother was surprised to hear that! Then Ozo and Brandon told Ozo’s mother the story of the bird. Ozo’s mother patted Brandon on the head and said, "Dear, why didn't you tell me? I love birds too."
Ozo and Brandon would spend the day playing indoor games as such since Brandon’s leg was still a bit sore. Ozo suddenly hugged Brandon into a tight embrace, it startled Brandon a bit but he hugged backed shyly soon after.
“It was so fun to have you here, Brandon! You should come again.”
Ozo nuzzled closer, it made Brandon’s cheeks feel a little warm.
“I will. I will miss you, Ozo.”
“Silly! We can still meet in Roblox!”