Deepest Blue Brown Eyes

When two friends met unexpectedly in an unexpected place and time, they usually exclaimed “What a coincidence!” What exactly is a coincidence? I looked in my dictionary and this is the meaning it gave me.

Coincidence - a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time merely by chance

What does it mean by ‘merely by chance’? When something happened without any apparent reasons or causes, most people said that it happened by chance. But a pious person would say “It is God’s will.” And a mathematician would describe the event by saying “The probability of something to occur is one over one hundred and twenty nine.”

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This is a story of coincidence. It took place in a far, faraway land, where no one had been. On this land there was a mountain. It was the highest mountain in the world. Its highest peak was way up in the sky. On this highest peak there was the tallest tree in the world. There it stood all alone, majestically among the clouds spreading its gigantic branches with its root firmly embracing the peak’s cold hard soil. Not very far from the highest peak, there was the second-highest peak where the second-highest tree in the world grew.

Up above the clouds in the far, faraway land, there lived a flock of strange bird. They were small blue birds with long tails. As they never descended upon the earth, they had no need of legs. As they only ate clouds, much the same way you would eat a cotton candy, they had no need of claws to catch preys. Their beaks were as soft as your lips since they had no need to grind grains. They lived merrily above the clouds, way out of reach of human eye. No scientist had found them, thus they had no scientific name. Given that they were such a timid species, they only laid their eggs on the highest and second-highest trees, which grew on the highest and second-highest mountains in the world, in the far, faraway land where no one had been.

One day, a terrible storm came over the far, faraway land. The highest tree in the world was struck by lightning three times in a row. It was plucked out of the ground. The roots and crown were burn to ashes. What was left of the magnificent tree was a coal black trunk, balancing itself dangerously on the highest peak, like a weighing scale. Most people would say the tree happened to end up like that by chance. But a pious person would say “It is God’s will.” A mathematician would say, “The probability of a tree to be struck by lightning three times in a row is one over a zillion.”

A month after the storm, by coincidence, two of the strange blue birds built their nests on the burnt trunk. One built the nest on one end that used to have branches, and another built on the other end that used to have roots. By coincidence, both birds coiled three of their long tail feathers to make the nests and laid eggs of the same size and weights. Hence, the trunk maintained its balance and did not fall of the peak.

The species of this strange blue bird, once it laid its single egg, never attended the egg or the hatchling. The hatchling was left to fend for itself until it was able to fly. It took the hatchling almost three years to grow into an adult bird and fly above the clouds. All the time the hatchling was in its nest, it survived only on air and mist.

Now, the time had come for the eggs to hatch. But only one egg hatched. The baby blue bird, Deepest Blue, seeing the world for the first time, could feel the swaying of its nest. He looked down and saw only fog. By instinct he knew his nest was in a vulnerable situation. He looked around and saw the other nest and the egg in it. He looked up and saw the clouds. Oh! How he longed to fly above the clouds! He was all alone and had no one to talk to. So there he sat quietly, waiting eagerly for the other egg to hatch and trying not to move too much in case the trunk would swing and fell down the peak.

Six months after the other egg hatched and came out Brown Eyes. Even when she had not had her full feather yet, she was beautiful. She too had realized the hazardous situation of her nest. When she saw the other baby bird on another end of the trunk she said, “We are not safe here, we better stay where we are or else this tree trunk will loose its balance and we’re history!” The other baby bird agreed, and he was very fascinated by her beauty.

Deepest Blue and Brown Eyes stayed happily together, keeping their distance in order not to lose the balance of the trunk. Brown Eyes’ nest was nearer to the second-highest peak, and on the second-highest tree which had survived the terrible storm there were several other nests. From her nest, Brown Eyes could talk to the other baby birds in their nests, and had made acquaintances with them. She was a very attractive and friendly baby bird; hence the baby birds on the second-highest tree liked her very much.

But Deepest Blue had no other friends for he was very far from the second-highest tree and could not even see it. He was very sad and lonely. He had only Brown Eyes to talk to, but Brown eyes would always be busy chatting with the other baby birds. One time, Deepest Blue felt so lonely that he tried to move his nest nearer to Brown Eyes, but it caused the trunk to sway so badly, he thought it would fell of the peak and both of them would die. Fortunately, once the trunk started swaying, he realized the consequences of his action and quickly took his old position back. Brown Eyes was very angry at Deepest Blue over the incident and they did not talk for weeks.

There were times when Brown Eyes got bored or angry with her friends on the second-highest tree. During these times, Brown Eyes would be very nice to Deepest Blue and gave him her full attention. She realized that she depended so much on Deepest Blue but she would deny it. There were also times when Brown Eyes feel the need to be near Deepest Blue. On several occasions, she had tried to move her nest closer to Deepest Blue, jeopardizing them both. But when she had caused the trunk to sway, Deepest Blue was never angry with her. He liked her too much to be angry with her.

Two years went by since Brown Eyes hatched and she had witness some of her friends on the second-highest tree left their nests. One day she realized that in six-month time, Deepest Blue would be strong enough to leave his nest. She thought, “If he flew away, this trunk will lose its balance and I will fall of the peak and die!” She was worried and was in deep thoughts for seven days. Deepest Blue was concerned with his only friend’s sudden quiet thoughtfulness, “What was wrong Brown Eyes, have I said something that hurts your feelings?” Brown Eyes answered, “You have done me nothing wrong Deepest Blue.” Deepest Blue said, “Then why are you so quiet?” Brown Eyes let the question passed her by.

At the end of her seven days of thinking, Brown Eyes had made her decision. “Deepest Blue, in six month’s time you will fly away, the trunk will lose it balance and I will fall and die. Before you do that to me, and I will leave you first,” said Brown Eyes sternly. “What are you talking about? I have never even thought of leaving you. Even if my wings are strong enough to fly, I will not leave and let you die. I will wait until you are strong enough, then we will soar above the clouds together,” replied Deepest Blue. Brown Eyes made her stand, “I have made my decision, and I must leave you.” Deepest Blue was puzzled, “But how are you going to leave me? You can’t even fly yet!” Brown eyes said, “Not like you, I have many friends. Some of them have flown above the clouds. They will help me to carry my nest to the second-highest tree.” Deepest Blue cried and begged for Brown Eyes not to leave, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care if he fell of the peak and die.

She left him. Brown Eyes left Deepest Blue with some help from her friends. Once Brown Eyes’ nest was lifted, the trunk swayed and fell of from the highest peak. Deepest Blue fell down and down and down. Strong winds blew him away from North to South and from East to West. He felt like he was falling into a bottomless pit.

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Now, you might be asking me, how I came upon to know this story. It took place in a land far, faraway land where no one had been. The birds, on the other hand was a timid species which lived above the clouds and had never been found by any scientist. But, as I said before, this is a story of coincidence. By coincidence, Deepest Blue, who fell from his nest on the highest peak of the highest mountain in the world and was blown away by the winds, had landed onto my very lap. He was injured and unconscious, with little life left in his breast. Most people would say Deepest Blue had fallen onto my lap by chance. But a pious person would say “It is God’s will.” A mathematician would say, “The probability of a new species of bird to suddenly fall into somebody’s lap is one over a zillion to the power of three.”

I took care of Deepest Blue until he was able to fly. Before we departed he told me his story. From his story, I found out that his broken wings didn’t hurt much compared to his broken heart. And that is how I come upon this story – by coincidence