The yellow bird

Daniel opened his eyes. There were colored walls and a high black ceiling in the strange room where he found himself. He opened the blue window. A soundless white space was flying before the window. It was a space of emptiness. Daniel closed the window quickly because that white emptiness gave him a feeling of horror. "I will stay inside this colored room until somebody explains me the situation," he decided. He waited several minutes but nobody came into the room. Daniel looked around himself again. "I am a stupid man. I am waiting for somebody… But no-one could come into the room because there aren't any doors here," Daniel thought. "I have a unique exit through the blue window. Perhaps I should have learnt how to fly before I found myself in this room," he smiled, "I could stay in the room for a long time but I do not like the black color of the ceiling. It brings dark emotions into my heart. I should do something because it is beginning to irritate me. May be I should fall asleep again? So I will wake up in my real life. Perhaps it is my night dream only. I read similar stories about people who woke up in their dreams. It was difficult for them to understand their condition." He closed his eyes. "This darkness reminds me of the black color of the ceiling of this room," he smiled in his thought. Daniel waited for several minutes and opened his eyes, "It could be a strange thing if I found myself in another place after this. My closed eyes were like the closed window of this room. The doors of my dream were not opened to me and I could not leave this room with my dream too. Perhaps I have only one way to leave this place. It is the blue window." Daniel came to the window again. He opened the window with shouts of surprise. A little yellow bird was sitting on the windowsill and looking at Daniel with interest. Daniel climbed on the windowsill and sat down near the bird. "Who are you?" he asked. He was not expecting any answer. He wanted to calm himself with his question. The yellow bird flew away into the white space of emptiness. "I am a lone man again," Daniel thought ironically. "Perhaps I should not ask this strange bird any question. Maybe the bird could become my little funny friend in this horror place of white quiet stillness." Daniel looked around. The white space had some changes. Some colors were added to its quiet stillness. Also he began to hear different voices. There were voices of men and women. Tender voices of unknown children were like bells in surrounding space. "Oh! People live here too. I do not see them but I hear their voices. They talk with each other. Children's laughter mixes with voices of adults." Daniel stood up on the windowsill and cried to them, "I am here! Please, come to me. I am feeling very lonely without you. I do not see you but you are not far from me because I can hear your voices." Nothing changed. The talks were like a music of sea waves. He heard them but people did not. "Crazy place…," Daniel was indignant at this situation. "And… What should I do? I cannot sleep. I hear the talks but people do not notice my call to them." He sat down on the windowsill and began to swing his legs in the white space. "I will shake up this white space and the space will let me go," Daniel joked to himself. He stopped to be angry and began to sing his favorite song. The same yellow bird appeared from the white space and sat down on the windowsill near Daniel again. "I am a great singer! The birds fly to me because they want to listen to my song. We will sing together if this bird will learn the words of my song." Daniel laughed to his thoughts. He had always been a light-hearted person. Other yellow birds appeared from the white emptiness. "Oh! I will organize a chorus of birds. And I will be the main singer in this chorus." Daniel laughed. The space was full of voices and yellow birds. Suddenly a tender strong voice asked him to open his eyes. "How could I open my eyes if they are already opened?" He was surprised. The voice was not similar to the other voices in that strange white space. "I must recollect this voice," Daniel thought. "Yes, it is the voice of Jenny. My beautiful wife…The happiness of my life…" Daniel recollected. "She would not ask me to open my eyes if it was a stupid idea. So, I should try to do it if Jenny need it." Daniel opened his eyes. Jenny was sitting near him on his bead. Her beautiful eyes were full of tears. "Who offended you? " Daniel asked her. "I will kill the person who dared to offend you!" He told her seriously. "My darling… My Daniel… You were so close to death with your illness. I thought that you could leave me. I am so happy that you opened your eyes. You are talking to me …" Jenny burst into tears. Daniel recollected all. He had an attempt to tell Jenny about the strange white space which he had visited. He wanted to tell her about the voices of people that he had heard in this space. Daniel remembered the strange colored room with its black ceiling and blue window where he had met his friend the bird. But Jenny did not allow him to tell anything, "My dear… Please, do not talk. You should save your poor strength now. Doctor told me that I must care about it." Several weeks passed away and Daniel was in good health again. Daniel forgot about the white space and others things that had happened during his illness. Jenny was happy about it. She supposed that it was due to hallucinations from Daniel's fever. One thing disturbed Daniel though. He often saw a beautiful yellow bird in their garden. Jenny and Daniel had never seen that bird before his illness. Daniel did not understand the reason but the song of that bird always brought true calm and hope into his soul.