Disowning a pet? But you told him every creature has a soul... Every creature but me...?

What happened to the early mornings I would jump upon your bed, and kiss your face until you awoke with laughter? Now all you do is bellow curses straight into my furry little ears! Even as guilt broke out upon my face, you still pointed to the bedroom door.

What happened to us living alone, best friends in the world you titled "lonely"? You've gotten a boyfriend, one who "loves" dogs. Have you ever thought about what he does when you are not at home? The abuse that leaves small scars? He told you I was clumsy, even after you knew I certainly was not, and you believed him.

Some say you thought with your heart, believing in that boy. I know that you did not, for you left me for him. We had gone through so much, and you threw away our memories, just because I am a different species?

I thought you would come through for me, I thought that you would remember me. Instead, you left with him and adopted a puppy, one that was half my age. You both were so joyous and excited, and after a while, I loved it too. But after I loved that new little pup, I discovered that I resented it also. That she-pup took away all the attention and love that I was used to receiving, stealing it all away.

I couldn't bring myself to blame her, she was adorable and didn't even notice that she averted your attention from me. I could never bring myself to hate any living thing, just as I hoped you would never forget about me.

Why did you get another friend, I thought I was special to you. Does this mean I am not enough? She bites me quite hard, sometimes enough that I would bleed. Yet you don't seem to notice, as you get older you only care about the boy and the puppy. What happened to even paying a little attention to me?

I know that I am asking a lot, but all I want is a reason. I wish to know what I did wrong, so that maybe I can fix it and everything will go back to the way it was. I really wish it would all go back, now.

As you're getting older, I hoped that you would finally remember I didn't give up on you, but now I realize that you have already given up on me. I realize you have given up on me as soon as we are in the car. I knew this would happen, but I always pushed away the thought.  I don't understand, I am only six years old...

I can see it, the building is nearing. I try to memorize this last moment with you as the pet shelter halts directly beside your car. You turn off the engine, and I whimper the pleads. Still, you open the door to get me. My head is screaming "No, momma, no! Please go back to normal, I still love you so much!"

You chain me up and drag me into the building as my claws dig into the cement. You shout at me for the first time in what seems like forever, this is not the attention I wanted. I release my grip and allow you to pull me along. I have to trust you, I just hope that you aren't going to do what I fear most.

You direct me to the desk, people standing in long white coats behind it. Immediately, I wish I were home, or at least back in the car, anywhere but here! Anywhere but here!

The lady behind the desk beckons to you, and you guide me over to her. You mumble in your human words, still so alien to me. I want to know what you are saying, I want to know that I will stay with you.

The woman comes out from behind the desk and takes the leash from you. "What a shame," she whispers to you. I let out a whimper as I look into your eyes one last time. I memorize every detail of your face and realize that you are weeping. Crystal teardrops are flowing gently down your cheek. One lands on my nose. "Why are you doing this...? Why are you crying?" I whine softly.

You turn to follow the woman who now holds the leash. Somehow, I feel slightly more relaxed knowing that you are still here. You're crying breaks into quiet and hardly audible sobs. Are you thinking about the same memories as I have been every day?

We are lead into a small room, a large metal table rests against one wall with a few seats opposite of it. The door closes behind us. Immediately, I feel extremely claustrophobic and petrified. You bend down beside me, petting me endlessly. Do you see how afraid I am? Can you see into my thoughts?

The lady takes off my leash, places it on the table and leaves the room through a different door. I glance at you, you are so close to me. You are staring into my eyes, and I stare back into yours. I just notice that I am quivering as a plastic bag in the wind, what have I done to deserve this?

When the woman returns, she is holding something shiny and pointy. You approach me and hug me, something I have been waiting for for so long... I can feel that you are warmer than I, and that you are shaking just the slightest bit. I can hear you sobbing clearly now, and it unmistakably breaks my heart.

I whimper as quietly as possible, and it only makes you cry harder. Is this the last time I will ever see you? Do you still love me? I so wish to know all about you now, all about what happened. I can hear the woman approaching, but I just ignore it. I want to remember this moment forever, the moment that you finally love me again.

Suddenly, I feel a prick on my right foreleg. What is that? Strangely, I feel very powerful, like I can do anything. That odd feeling rushes through my body, coursing violently. I stop shaking, I feel like I can hardly move. All I feel now is a tingling pain in my chest. Momma, what is happening?

It all seems to happen in one single moment, the tingling pain shifts into a burning sensation, I can feel something in my chest hurt. I wish with all my heart to see your face again, one more time, but I cannot turn my head. I cannot make any sound, I cannot move or feel anything but your arms gripping me tightly to you. All my fear seems to melt away, all my sorrow has fled to the shadows. Everything was turned to nothing, and everything faded away until all I could see is white. I lose all feeling, I lose everything. Everything but my first sight, that first memory of your face, shining with a smile I could never forget no matter what. I feel the love in my heart seep out until I cannot feel my heart any longer. I love you so much, that is all I can think about.

I gazed up at the slowly brightening sky in wonder, how does the skylight rise? I continuously chirped at my mother as she tried to tell us that she would be back shortly. Her graceful wings spread as far as they could go, I admired her long, brown feathers. Her beak opened as she let out a quick farewell screech, and she took off, flapping her wings heavily. In seconds, she was out of my sight. Breakfast will be here soon, and my baby siblings will quit chirping, as will I.
In boredom, I looked about the nest we were perched upon, it was created out of leaves and few straw bits. My mother looked after us with what she could make, after all, we hadn't a father that could possibly help her, he had disappeared.
I glanced out about the beautiful tree that held us up with its branches, such a strong, majestic tree. We were quite high from the forest floor, a frightening fall it would be. I fluttered my tiny wings at the tree, hoping I could fly, just like mother, to the trunk of it and rest beside it for holding all of us up, yet my small wings cannot yet carry me. I am still a mere chick, with much growing to do before I may fly, as mother always told us.
My siblings were becoming rowdy, and I know I was hungry as well, yet I disliked being loud even though they didn't care much. I have to continue reminding myself that I am the oldest, so as to not become too upset at them for crying so often about what bothers them. I never completely understood them, they received more attention than I, and they always pushed me out of the way to get to mother, and she allowed them to. I feel neglected that way, but I know I have to put up with it.
After a few moments of sitting in the nest watching my siblings, I felt a gentle wave of heat stroke through the air, it was quite unusual, though it is summer. My siblings paused from their screaming, and began again. I saw mother in the distance, carefully soaring over the shorter trees. Her beak held a goldmine of delicious insects, visible even from the tree we were settled on.
Soon enough, she perched herself on the rim of the nest, causing it to wobble the slightest bit. Her wings folded back against her slender body, craning her neck to drop breakfast from her beak and into ours. My siblings, of course, received food first, shouting with pleasure. I held my beak open proudly and patiently. I chirped to signify I was ready for my meal, and in slipped the wonderful tastes. How lovely, I thought, to have a mother fetch us meals that tasted heavenly as this. I grinned at mother to show my thanks and ate the rest of what had fallen to the bed of the nest.
I daydreamed again of flying while watching the sky grow darker and darker throughout the entire day. What a wonder it must be to be able to fly through the sky you worship, the sky that watches down on you every day, the beautiful masterpiece that shows itself every single moment as it changes from light to dark.
It was odd, I felt nervous that something horrid was about to occur, even while looking at the sky that I loved so much. It might have been because another wave of heat sweep through, making the air feel heavy. I decided to fall asleep so as to avoid worrying myself too much with my thinking. I closed my eyes, listening to the mellow cooing of mother, letting the darkness of dream-state to render me unconscious.

I awoke to the sound of high-pitched squawking, it sounded like mother, though she rarely ever squawked. My eyes instantly opened, and I examined my surroundings to see what had upset her.
I saw the sky first, it seemed normal at first, it was still rather dark. Then, I noticed it had a tinge of red to it, not normal at all, I had never seen it red before! It struck me as gorgeous, it was a brand new sight for me. I heard mother's shriek repeating, and I immediately recalled that something was wrong.
I observed the tree branch and trunk, it had a reddish-orange glow to it, much like that of an aura. My siblings were squeaking, but it was hardly audible due to a strange sound similar to the sound of something ripping. It felt very warm, warmer than ever, and the feeling nearly hurt.
Finally, I saw mother, she was hovering directly beside the nest, her wings flapping in a flurry of feathers.
"Mother!" I twittered, "What is happening?"
All of a sudden, a very loud crack echoed from beneath the nest and the branch wavered as red crawled across it toward us. Mother was very panicked.
I turned to look at mother and my siblings, this had never happened before, I didn't know what was going on!
Another clamorous crackling came from the branch beneath us, and I leaned out to see the ground.
It was very cloudy and foggy, I could barely see the twigs that rested upon the ground. I realized it was difficult to breathe, when abruptly, the branch snapped and sent us spiraling toward the ground. I was truly terrified, this had never occurred before!
We plummeted to the ground with a jolt of a landing, my siblings and I were each stunned and refused to move, we couldn't. We were on the ground, the nest had fallen into the dancing red and orange colors.
I saw mother swoop down to us, she was so mortified, I'd never seen her like this. Her gorgeous feathers were tattered and blackened, her eyes sharp and weary at the same time, her beak endlessly spluttering worried squawks. Why was she so afraid?
She landed beside us, her face panic-stricken. "Mother?" I could barely speak, the air seemed to choke the words in my throat.
Mother simply surrounded us with her body and wings, I couldn't even see the world or the sky anymore, why was she blocking it from me?
"I love you so very much, each of you," she choked out. "I cannot carry all of you out of the forest while it is up in flames..." her eyes were watering, "And I refuse to leave you for my own life. I can, though I would never abandon you, my dearly beloved children... Be safe in my absence..."
I didn't understand what mother was saying, what did she mean by "up in flames" or "for my own life"?
She tensed her whole body, she looked as if she were in pain. It was very difficult to breathe, it seemed as if the air was avoiding my lungs. I watched mother's expression the whole time, it looked as though she wanted to scream out in pain, but, to my surprise, she never did. What was happening to her? Finally, she remained completely still, her expression went blank, and her breathing ceased. The warmth of her wings seemed to dissipate, and the heat that surrounded us before lightened shortly after.
"Mother...?" I squeaked. She didn't even move.
I felt a strong urge build up inside me to escape her still embrace and see the sky, I was the one who was worried now. I stood slowly, my siblings watching mother, and then me. I gently pushed a few of mother's feathers apart and poked my head out to see the forest again.
Everything had a brown tint to it, the red was almost completely gone, or had just faded to a light brown. The air held a sort of dust, also brown and some gray, that fell slower than snow. The ground was covered with ashes, and the top of mother's body was covered in them too. The top of her body looked very dark, it wasn't the same beautiful light brown as it used to be, it was almost completely black. The dust followed my breath into my lungs, and it hurt, so I pulled back inside the protection of mother's wings. I noticed that mother hadn't taken a breath or blinked in a very long time, it was very scary to me. The warmth that always radiated from her was gone, leaving her cold as winter ice. I looked to my siblings, and they seemed to be thinking the same...

The day my mother died was the day my siblings and I had to begin to fend for ourselves. It was incredibly challenging at first, but we began to memorize the forest more, and where we could find food. Since I was the oldest, I took care of my siblings, and they followed me closely. I know it was what mother would have done, but she couldn't rise to her feet ever again, she couldn't even breathe anymore. Emotionally, I am still very hurt from that experience, and sometimes I wish I could forget it. But now, I am physically stronger, I've learned to fly, and taught my siblings to fly as well. I'm living my dreams by flying through the evidently beautiful sky that I love very dearly, and I think mother is now a part of that beauty, because it seems more gorgeous than ever before.