The Clay Bird
Care can bring ordinary things to life.
In a small village, Mateo shaped a bird from clay. Its wings were uneven. Its beak leaned left. Its tail looked more like a spoon.
The other children laughed. “That bird will never fly.”
Mateo carried the clay bird home and painted it with careful dots of red, yellow, and blue. Every morning, he placed it by the window. “Good morning, little bird,” he said. Every night, he whispered, “Dream of flying.”
One spring day, a storm knocked open the window. Wind rushed in. The clay bird trembled. Mateo reached out, but the bird lifted into the air.
It flew once around the room, landed on his shoulder, and chirped a sound like a tiny bell.
From then on, the bird stayed clay in the daytime. But when Mateo dreamed, it carried him over mountains.