Baby bird

The mail slot creaked open then slapped shut. "Glenda," shouted Henry from the other side of the apartment. "You got a magazine." Glenda continued brushing her hair, but focused on the wrinkles on her face that became more and more noticeable every day. She knew that all this stress couldn't be good for her, but she could no longer a) lead a life as stress-free as she used to, or b) afford expensive products – like Mario Bedescu's wrinkle guard – to reverse the damage the stress had caused. Glenda quickly swiped on some mascara – nothing fancy – and walked to the kitchen. Henry handed her the magazine – People Style Watch, the cover said. Glenda shoved it into her bag, not even bothering to look through the pages. The expensive products it advertised only reminded her of the life she used to live and the things she only wished she could afford. Not to mention, the beautiful cover girl, Blake Lively, was a near spitting image to the other thing that was nagging the back of Glenda's mind – her biological daughter.

"Henry, I'm tackling a double shift today," Glenda said as she pulled her black Casa D' Waffle apron out of the dryer. "I won't be home til about 10 tonight. There's a lean cuisine in the freezer, but shoot me a text if you want a waffle or something." With that, she left the apartment and made her way to work.

Glenda had been doing lots of thinking. It had been one week since she saw her daughter, and she still couldn't decide whether or not she wanted to meet her. On one hand, her motherly strings were pulling. Just two days ago, for example, as she passed Sherwood Park on the way to work, she saw a little boy, probably 4 or 5 or so, struggling to catch wind to fly his kite. Glenda spent nearly 20 minutes helping him to fly that kite – and subjecting herself to nasty stares from her coworkers when she arrived to work tardy. On the other hand, as it approached her biological daughter's 18th birthday, Glenda felt that meeting her would simply be more trouble than it was worth. Her daughter hadn't tried finding Glenda yet, so that meant she didn't want to meet her, right? So, still unsure as to what to do, Glenda pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind in an attempt to avoid the problem.

It didn't make matters any better that on this particular day, as Glenda walked to work, a baby bird lay on the sidewalk, trying to flap its wings. Seriously?, Glenda thought. She couldn't just leave it there... but then again, it wasn't her responsibility to take care of it. How symbolic, thought Glenda. Ultimately, after staring at it for a few minutes, she took off her apron, and picked the bird up with it, so as to not get her human germs on the baby bird. Since the town didn't have a veterinary clinic, the only thing Glenda could think to do was take it to the Good Samaritan Clinic. Here's to another day late to work, thought Glenda as she marched into the clinic. 

"Hi there! How are you!" said the clerk as Glenda entered. "My name's Clara Kate. How can I help you out today?" 

"Well ..." began Glenda. "I'm actually in a bit of a hurry, I'm running late to work, but I found this baby bird. He – or she, I guess – can't fly, so I thought I should probably help it out. May I leave it with y'all?" 

"Ummmmmmmmm, I've never dealt with animals, but since you're in a hurry, we'll deal with it," Clara Kate said. "There aren't many people who would've brought a bird in for care. You sure are a nice person."

Glenda smiled, put the bird – and her apron – on the counter, and ran on to Casa D' Waffle.