The Family

The picture quality on my outdated TV statics as the angry housewives of my favorite program argue about who did or didn’t do what. My living room is smothered in darkness. The only light in the room is from my TV’s screen. It’s Saturday night, which means the invisible cables from my body have thoroughly latched on to the couch, rendering me from movement. My finger, seemingly, electronically attached to my phone, scrolls through my Instagram while the commercials play out. The people I follow begin to flood my feed with pictures of their weekends so far. Brunches at fancy restaurants, clubbing with their girlfriends and taking scenic hikes though the mountains. Not me. I clock out at 6:30 P.M every Friday night, I grab takeout and I come home to sit on my couch until Sunday night, of course, apart from my obligations; cleaning, paying bills, buying the necessities, doing laundry. I’ve never understood how some people can go out and do fun things with their lives. I’ve never found the time. I work, come home, sleep and I'll do it all over again until I’m 62, then I can retire and do whatever I want. Until then, I’m a slave to my couch and these stupid reality TV programs.

My eye catches a commercial on the TV of a man traveling around the world. Clips play of his adventurous life. First it shows him climbing a mountain in Alaska, next he’s on a boat in the Pacific Ocean watching the dolphins swim, then he’s in a dense forest in South America, observing a family of scarlet macaws. Watching this fictional commercial makes me feel bad about myself and the life I’ve been living. My life and the route I have chosen plays over in my mind, like a movie that’s slow in the beginning, but you continue to watch in case something interesting happens. My eyes begin to flutter as the memories of my life bore me to sleep...

The scarlet macaws from the commercial buried their way into my subconscious. Cawing at me as they take flight into the air and all around me. The vibrant reds, blues and yellows from their feather’s paint the sky with every flap of their wings. I’m in awe to see them dance through the air so effortlessly with their large size. The sun illuminates their vivacious colors. I begin to feel weightless along with the birds. My feet lift from the ground, and I take flight, swirling up as I spread my arms to mimic wings. Soaring through the air; my eyes investigate the impeccable view and my heart fills with wonderment. The birds descend towards an open field, and I follow. My bare feet hit the ground with effortlessness, as if I’ve been descending from the sky my entire life. The scarlet macaws circle around my head, their feathers falling from the velocity. Each bird begins to scoop a lost feather from the grass, and they place them in my hair. The electric energy that the birds have created crawl through my pores and inside of me. I feel anew...

I open my eyes, a little disappointed that it was only a dream. Filling my lungs with a deep breath, I realize that I feel different. I feel awake, in the sense that I’ve been asleep walking through life and my brain has finally registered this.

A sensation of light and motivation washes over me and takes over, making me ignore the pains in my body from sleeping on the hard couch. I no longer feel like waiting for my life to begin, and I realize that I must take charge of it.

I am no longer going to waste away on my couch while the world spins around me, instead I’m going to make movement. I’m going to take a vacation some where I’ve never been. I’m going to find a hobby. I’m going to do what I find is best for me.

While the possibilities of what I can do with my life crowd my thought process, a visual appears with the help of my newfound imagination and shows me the family of scarlet macaws. A merry tear escapes my eye and I thank the family for the long-awaited awakening that I never knew I needed.