The Birds of God

The depression and desperation in this fathers story of his plight to feed his family is sad. Immediately it is easy to feel bad for this man who cannot feed his wife and children because the drought in his area is so bad that his crops will not grow and he is not able to catch any fish. A fisherman by trait, this man spends his time daydreaming about how much easier his life would be if he could fly away like a bird. When a bird lands on his boat on the river, the man thinks briefly about eating it, but instead seems to develop some type of worship for the bird. He takes the bird home and feeds it what little food he has to the dismay of his wife and family. Finally, it becomes apparent that his wife thinks he has lost his mind and she leaves him, taking the children with her. The worship that this man has heaped upon the bird has driven off his family. At the end of the story I'm pretty sure that the man has died as he is in the river and cannot be pulled free. I then came to the assumption that perhaps this bird was the angel of death.