Tell Blue Bird Hello

"Well this is all your fault," I looked down at my bulging tummy, gently accusing the baby growing inside of me.

"You're the reason I had this chocolate craving.”

I shook my head at myself for blaming my unborn child. It had been my harebrained idea to go out to buy a snack in this thunderstorm.

My car had run out of gas, leaving me stalled on the side of the road. In my second trimester brain fog, I had forgotten my cell phone.

Through the sheets of rain pouring down, I saw a house just down the road. I decided to take my chances and approach it, hoping someone was there who would let me use their phone.

I got out of the car, slammed the door closed, and ran towards the house as fast as I could. Admittedly, it was more of a waddle. As I got closer, I could see that the lights were on inside.

I arrived at the front door, knocking hesitantly.

A short, grey-haired man in striped pajamas answered the door.

"What's your business here?" he asked bluntly.

"My car ran out of gas. I wondered if I could use your phone to call my mom?" I asked awkwardly.

"I'm Jim. Come on in," he answered, a bit more friendly, gesturing me inside.

I followed him into their kitchen, glad to be out of the rain.

"We have company," he announced to a short, plump woman with her silver hair rolled up in curlers.

The woman smiled sweetly.

"My name is Elizabeth. Lizzie for short," I introduced myself.

"Funny coincidence. My name is Elizabeth too," she smiled, amused.

I chuckled and asked, "Could I use your phone? I need to call my mom to come pick me up."

"Phone's been out for years, Dear," the woman answered.

"All I can offer is cake and hot chocolate. I was just making us a snack," she continued, cutting slices of chocolate cake and putting them on plates for us.

The cake made my mouth water. My craving for chocolate had gotten me into this whole mess. I figured that I might as well stay and have a slice.

The cheerful woman gazed at me intently, seeming to study me.

"Ah," she said to herself, as though she suddenly recognized me.

"Tell Blue Bird I said hello," she said, smiling.

"Blue Bird?" I asked.

"Well it's a nickname, of course," she laughed.

"Oh, of course," I giggled, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone called Blue Bird," I clarified.

"Oh, you do, Dear."

"Oh, okay," I answered, nodding, thinking that she must be confused.

Jim motioned for me to sit down at the table, then sat across from me, staring at me intensely.

"Hmm," he said to himself and shrugged.

Elizabeth handed me a plate of chocolate cake, then began crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, concerned.

She shuffled over to me in her pink, plush slippers and looked deeply into my eyes.

"I need you to tell Blue Bird that it wasn't her fault," she sobbed.

"What wasn't her fault?" I asked.

"The fire," she answered quietly, walking towards the stove.

I watched her hands tremble as she fumbled with the tea kettle.

Elizabeth continued, "Blue Bird thinks the fire was her fault. She thinks she left a candle burning in the living room that night, but she didn’t. It was bad electrical wiring. That’s why the house caught on fire. It had nothing to do with Blue Bird."

“I’m sorry to hear about the fire,” I replied.

“I’m glad you’re both okay. My grandparents died in a house fire. Mom won’t really talk about it, so I don’t know much about them. I don’t even know their names.”

Elizabeth shook her head sadly and sighed.

She poured hot water from the kettle into mugs and stirred hot cocoa powder into them, topping them with marshmallows. She served Jim and me, joining us at the table.

I devoured the chocolate cake. It was the most delicious cake I’d ever had. The only word I could think of to describe it was “heavenly.” After taking a few sips of the hot cocoa, I stood up quickly, feeling the sudden ache in my bladder that had become so familiar.

"Could I use your restroom, please?" I asked, unable to keep the urgency out of my voice.

Elizabeth smiled softly, gazing at my full belly.

"Mark my words, you're having boys."

I gasped in shock.

"Boys?"

Looking down at my large, swollen belly, I could understand why she thought I must have two in there.

I giggled, explaining, "I’m only having one baby. I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. I decided to let it be a surprise on delivery day. The baby must be a big one, though."

"Nope. Mark my words, you got a sneaky one hiding in there," she winked, pointing me towards the restroom door.

I bolted towards the restroom, dismissing her silliness.

Feeling much better, I returned to the kitchen and sat down again.

Elizabeth shuffled towards me, carrying something small. She placed it gently inside my hand.

"Please give this to Blue Bird for me," she requested pleadingly.

The small object was a pin with a blue bird on it. Now I understood why she kept talking about someone named Blue Bird. The poor lady probably has dementia, I thought to myself.

I stuffed it in my pocket, answering, "Okay, I'll give it to Blue Bird."

I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I could tell that the pin had a deep meaning for her. Jim nodded at me, being a man of few words.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, so confused. Mom's face looked down at me, concerned.

"You're awake!" she shouted, startling me.

"Mom, what happened?" I asked groggily.

I grabbed my belly in a panic, asking, “Is the baby okay?”

"The baby is fine, hon. You fainted from dehydration. A police officer saw your car on the side of the road. He found you lying on the ground just a few feet away. Why on earth did you go out in that storm?" she scolded.

"The baby made me crave chocolate. It was a matter of life or death," I defended myself, giggling weakly.

She laughed too, seeming to relax a bit.

"Well no more of that, Young Lady! I was worried sick. Thank God it was just dehydration. You need more fluids and less chocolate from now on."

Mom's mention of chocolate reminded me Elizabeth’s delicious chocolate cake. I had forgotten about the encounter until then.

"Oh, Mom, I met the sweetest couple. I don't even remember leaving their house. I need to go back there. I don't know if I told them thank you for the hot cocoa and chocolate cake."

Mom looked concerned.

"What are you talking about, honey? There wasn't a house in sight of where they found you. You passed out just a few feet away from your car. Poor thing, you were laying there with the rain pouring down on you."

"No, Mom, there was a house just down the road. A couple named Jim and Elizabeth live there. She gave me a slice of the most delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted."

Mom acted like I had said something wrong.

"Lizzie, stop it! There was no house! You passed out in the mud just a few feet from your car."

"Mom, why don't you believe me? I'm not lying! Elizabeth seemed senile and kept talking about someone named Blue Bird. Why would I make that up?"

Mom's face turned white and her jaw dropped.

After a moment of silence, she whispered, "Blue Bird?"

"Yes, Mom. Why are you freaking out? She must have dementia. She gave me a pin with a blue bird on it. That's why she had blue birds on her mind. I put it in my pocket," I explained, since now I was in a hospital gown.

Mom rushed to my "patient belongings" bag, hastily rummaging through it until she found the pin.

"My God," was all she said as she sat down carefully, seeming to be on the verge of fainting herself.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Mom took a deep breath, looking down at the pin, trying to compose herself.

"There's no house on that road now...but there used to be. It burned down," she began.

"Elizabeth told me about a fire, but it must have been a different house. This house is still there. She said, ‘Tell Blue Bird it wasn’t her fault.’ She said the house had burned down due to electrical issues, not from a candle."

Mom looked at me in shock, then started crying.

"Mom, relax. You don't even know these people," I tried to calm her.

"Yes I do, Lizzie," she said, finally looking me in the eye.

"My grandma's name was Elizabeth. That's who I named you after," she began to explain, smiling.

"Elizabeth and Jim were my grandparents. They were “Grams” and “Gramps” to me. They raised me after my parents died. They called me Blue Bird. Grams loved birds," she smiled, remembering.

I felt goosebumps rising on my arms, slowly realizing why Mom had turned white.

“I thought your grandparents died, Mom. They died in a fire….,” my voice trailed off in shock as I grasped the meaning of what she had just said.

“Exactly, Lizzie,” she said softly.

“We lived on the road where you were found, but the house burned down thirty-five years ago. For all of these years, I thought that the fire was my fault. I thought that I was to blame for their deaths. I escaped the fire, but they didn’t," she said shakily, her eyes still filled with tears.

Mom looked down at the blue bird pin reverently, as though it were a sacred object. I guess, to her, it was.

"Grams gave me this pin on the day before the fire. She handed it to me and said, 'A blue bird for my Blue Bird,'" Mom smiled, remembering.

"How on earth was it still there? How is any of this possible?" she shook her head, confused.

"I don't know, Mom," I shook my head, just as confused.

"All I know is that I was asked to tell Blue Bird hello, to give her this pin, and to tell her that the fire wasn't her fault."

Mom shrugged.

"I guess that's all we'll ever know," she laughed in resignation.

It’s hard to believe that I somehow met my deceased grandparents on that night. I had to see that empty road for myself before I could believe it. Sure enough, there was no house on that road.

Was I in Heaven? Were they on earth? Were we all in some parallel dimension? I would think that it was just a dream if I hadn't returned with the blue bird pin in my pocket.

By the next summer, my baby boys were quite a handful. Yes, I said "boys." Elizabeth was right. I named them Jay and Robin, in honor of her love of birds.

One day, something strange happened. The boys were playing on the floor, when they suddenly stopped and stared up at something.

Mom and I watched them, confused, because nothing was there. They seemed to see something that we didn't. The boys waved and smiled.

Jay said, "Bwoo," and Robin said, "Burr."

They said it again, as though repeating after someone.

"Bwoo!"

"Burr!"

Mom and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Did they say blue bird?" I asked Mom in shock.

Again Jay said, "Bwoo," and Robin said, "Burr," both smiling and waving at something...or someone...that we couldn't see.

Too choked up to speak, Mom smiled with tears in her eyes. She knew that Grams and Gramps would always find a way to tell their Blue Bird hello.