A New Day

Mary Ann was awakened by the sound of birds. She struggled to open her eyes. It felt as if she has been asleep for a hundred years. The clatter and squawking of the birds drove her to fight through her stupor. She had to see what made the birds carry on so. After much effort she was finally able to see that she was in her childhood room, in her childhood bed with her favorite sheets, the yellow ones with the white daisies and she had to fight the urge to just snuggle in and go back to the beautiful peaceful sleep from which she came. But those birds sounded an urgency. She had to get up. After much effort she was able to sit on the side of her bed and look around to take in her surroundings. Her posters of the Jackson 5 and Prince were on the wall. Her cheerleading megaphone was sitting in the corner with the black and gold pom poms sticking out of the mouthpiece. She smiled at the thought of the last time she used them at a pep rally and the football game later that Friday night. Mary Ann was the only black cheerleader on the squad and Captain at that. She was popular in every sense of the word. But what made her loved by all was her kind heart. She was good through and through. Her genuine goodness shown through in everything she did. People just wanted to be around her. She was funny and adventurous. She seemed to thrive on helping others. And despite the fact that she was from the one of the poorest families in a town with lots of rich white families and a few rich black families. She always rose to any occasion and stood out as a natural leader. But that all seemed so long ago. Or was it?

The squawking of the birds outside her window was becoming louder and more frenzied. What was Mr. Harry her next-door neighbor doing out in his garden to cause such a ruckus? She had to pull herself up to go see what the problem was. She looked down at the floor to make sure that she didn’t step on Kitty, her black Persian cat. He loved sleeping on the rug next to her bed and she had stepped on him many times causing him to shriek and scramble, but Kitty was not there. Mary Ann gasped in shock on seeing her feet. Why they were beautiful and youthful but not childlike. This made her stand and rush over to her dresser mirror. To her surprise she could not believe the image staring back at her. It was her but not the last image she saw of herself. She could vaguely remember a much older version of herself. Gray hair lined and puffy eyes that she was constantly treating with creams and lotions to make them not look so old. But, just as quickly as the memory came it went away. Now she could only see her youthful self in all its splendor and strength. She could sense that her sleep had achieved this. She peered closer into the mirror and could see that her teeth were perfect, her hair was braided beautifully and shown with perfection. Who did it so nicely? She couldn’t remember but as that thought began to trouble her, she noticed something else. It was a beautiful heart shaped locket hanging from a platinum chain around her neck. This was new, because she had never owned a real piece of jewelry ever in her life and this locket was spectacular. She could feel it’s its expensive quality as she fingered it. It was intricately engraved with what appeared to be sun rays radiating from a red ruby in its center. She sensed that the locket was important and that she must never take it off. She was beginning to become fully awake now and she felt a burst of energy that seemed purposeful. Again, before she could make sense of it, she was distracted by the birds outside in Mr. Harry’s field. Why are those birds making so much racket? It was then that she realized that she was totally alone in the house. Where was Mama? Where was Jerry her annoying older brother? Surely, they would be concerned about the birds too. Mama would have a fit if those birds got into her tomatoes and okra planted in the back yard and Jerry would have his bebe gun out making sport of it by shooting as many of those birds as he could. But it was quiet in the house and for the first time Mary Ann felt and knew that she was all alone. She scrambled to find cloths to put on in the dresser drawers. Nothing looked familiar. Everything was old and worn. She opened the bottom drawer where she never kept anything except odds and ends and saw a beautiful garment of some sort. It appeared to be white but not any white that she had ever seen. This garment could only be described as pure white. She quickly put it on and found that it fit perfectly. It was a one-piece jumpsuit of some kind, but it had a fold of fabric that came down from her left shoulder and could be draped and tied around her waist. She instinctively tied it and also instinctively tucked the locket underneath the front and hid the platinum chain under the sloping neckline of this beautiful garment. She found a pair of well-made sandals just underneath her bed where she always stored her shoes. They fit perfectly. Now she was ready. But, ready for what? She walked over to her heavily draped window. Afraid to look out at what was now a loud cacophony of bird noises, she drew back the curtain and was blinded by the brightness that suddenly hit her eyes. She stumbled backwards and turned to go outside. She headed towards the front door of their small shotgun house that stood on the side of a red clay dirt road. She struggled to get the door open because she still couldn’t see quite clearly due to the blinding bright light from the window. She got the door open and ran out and to her right towards Mr. Harry’s field that separated their house from his. She had to keep her head down because of the brightness from the sun. But she could manage because she was familiar with her surroundings because she has lived here her whole life. Just as she hit the dirt road her sight was becoming more focused. She looked up to the sky because she thought the birds would be there but only saw a beautiful blue sky. No birds. That’s when she looked down and out into the field and saw what was causing the birds to make such a fuss. Scattered among the corn stalks were the half-mutilated bodies of her mother and brother. She could also make out Mr. Harry and his family. His wife Annie Mae and their five children were all there. The birds were making a feast of the bodies. Mary Ann stopped and was frozen to where she stood. She wasn’t afraid. Just shocked at what she saw. After what seemed like an eternity, she turned to run but as far as she could see there were birds pecking at bodies. She knew that the bodies were of others from her neighborhood. Part of her wanted to scream and run back to the house but a strong sense of purpose told her not to go back inside the house. She felt something warm against her chest. It was the locket. She reached for it and pulled it out. Just as she pulled it out a beam of red light coming from the ruby center pointed a path of light for her to follow. Mary Ann felt a calmness that she had never known come over her. She didn’t look again at the death all around her. She knew that she had to follow the path of light. She didn’t know where she would be led to. She knew the journey would be long. Overwhelmingly however, she knew that the path led to a life filled with people just like her. Good, honest and loving people. It was a new day. She began her journey.