For a long moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. There was an animal in my house. Hold on, was that the so-called bullet? My eyes caught sight of a light trail of red on my wall. I winced. Did the blue bird slam into my wall and knock itself in the head? That must have hurt.

The blue bird stumbled to its feet before swaying and falling over, still shaking its head. Sensing there was no threat, I shifted to my knees and watched the blue bird. I was trying to figure out the best course of action. Should I call animal control?

But then suddenly it swung its gaze towards me. And I saw the oddest thing. This blue bird had amethyst eyes. I had never seen such a thing. I was frozen in my thoughts. It was like my mind had gone blank as its gaze locked with mine.

Amethyst eyes stared unblinkingly at me. I could have sworn that they had a peculiar glow to them almost like the shine of a crystal, more clear than a pool of water. The moments passed. I wasn’t sure how long. It could have been mere seconds or it could have been ages. I remember vividly the feeling of being assessed as if my very soul/spirit was being read. And then it was over when the blue bird blinked and shifted its gaze away momentarily. But it was enough for the spell to break and I let out the breath that I was holding in. It looked around quietly from its vantage point before shifting its gaze back to me.

Despite being hurt, I couldn’t help but feel as though this bird had a noble bearing. Dignity flowed from it as it tried to get back on its feet. It seemed to try to fly because it tried to lift both wings but only one lifted. It winced as the other wing seemed to sag behind it.

“Are you okay?”

I was surprised at my own voice. But as soon as I was aware of what I had asked, I wanted to slap my head for two reasons. First: Any idiot could see it wasn’t okay? Second: Did I really expect an answer from a bird?”

I rolled my eyes at myself then I realized that the blue bird was looking dead at me. It lifted its head as best as it could and I felt again the sense of being assessed.

“What? It's a fair question!” I unexpectedly bristled from the non-verbal communication, “You came slamming into my wall, scaring the devil out of me, I might add, and now it looks like your wing and/or head might be injured. You can hardly stand on your own feet. So of course I would wonder if you're okay.”

Why? Why? I wanted someone to explain to me why I was monologing with a blue bird! I felt my face heat up and although my bangs were not in my eyes I moved them aside.

“Wait, are you laughing at me?” I asked when I realized that the blue bird’s body rippled once.

It stopped suddenly and went back to staring at me. Then finally it slowly cocked its head to the side.

I asked, “Is that any way to treat your host?”

The blue bird with amethyst eyes finally gave a shake of its head before dipping forward once. I blinked. Was that a response? I didn’t quite know what to do with that so I stood to my feet.

I had barely taken a step when suddenly I heard a caw. I’m sure I looked like an idiot but I dropped back to the ground and looked around only to see the blue bird looking at me. I swore he did some version of rolling his eyes at me.

“Was that you?”

The blue bird nodded and my eyes narrowed, “What? What do you want? You don’t have to be cawing at me like that?” I snapped.

The blue bird simply looked off for a moment. I thought it might have been ignoring me until I followed his gaze to my desk. Then the blue bird looked at me pointedly again before looking back at the desk.

I stood and looked at my desk wondering what it could want. It was an average desk with my laptop, paper and pencils, a bottle of water….WATER!!

The question shot through my head and I looked down at the bird, “Water? Do you want water?”

The bluebird nodded solemnly.

I clapped my hands, “Wonderful! Water, I can do!” I spun on my heel and was almost out the door before I froze. Slowly I turned back around, “Pardon me….”

The blue bird was still watching me,

“Did you…..” I pointed to the water on the desk and then back to myself, “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The bluebird blinked before nodding.

“Ahh….I see…..” I murmured before making my way down to the kitchen. I decided on a round, small bowl based on bird baths I’ve seen. I assumed they actually drank like that.

As I poured out filtered water from the refrigerator I thought about it. How did I know it really understood me? All it did was nod and point with its eyes. I brought the small bowl back and sat it in front of the bluebird. Then I stared at it. It looked like it was going to start drinking but then just stopped and stared at me.

“Are you a jellyfish?”

The bluebird shook its head.

“A snake.”

Shake.

“A bird?”

This time the bluebird nodded.

“Okay, you are a bluebird with black eyes….”

This time the bluebird paused before nodding its head once and then shaking it.

“But you are a bluebird with purple eyes…”

This time the bluebird nodded.

“Amazing….it actually seems self aware…..” I muttered. My mind went away somewhere; when I returned the blue bird was still looking at me pointedly.

“Ahh, sorry I’ll leave you to your privacy.” I said scrambling away. I decided to go out and get a small towel while it was doing whatever it was doing. I wasn’t sure if it was getting a bath or drinking but whatever.

I suspect the bluebird’s body rippled in amusement at my actions.