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The lark came again the next morning.
Its delicate, lilting birdsong startled Sadie out of a restless sleep. Despite the terrible way her day had ended yesterday, seeing the little bird outside her window made her smile.
Sadie reached up to lift the latch on the window and the lark fluttered in and lighted on her bedside table. It dropped a star-shaped rock and two bulbous flowers that glowed faintly from the inside, then looked up at her and chirped eagerly. With its little chest fluffed up with pride, and a spark in its small eyes, Sadie couldn't help but give a gentle laugh.
She headed over to the tiny kitchenette on the other side of the room, returning with breakfast: a slice of untoasted bread, spread with a little fruit jam. The lark hopped onto her knee and pecked at the bread eagerly.
Where did you come from? Sadie wondered, for the thousandth time. While it ate, Sadie nudged the rock across the bedside table with a finger. It had a nice colour. Night-sky purple, rippling with bands of silver. Immediately her mind went to what she could make out of it.
But the events of last night still weighed on her mind. She'd messaged Savannah Lane when she got home: So sorry I missed you, is there any chance we could reschedule? — and received no reply.
So I guess that's off the table.
She hated it, being at the whim of others. She negotiated an opportunity for herself and they'd say meet me at 5pm or forget about it. She'd have an extra shift dumped on her and she'd say of course, Jeannine, thank you. Sometimes it felt like dropping out of university had been the last decision she'd made that was completely and fully hers — and look where it had gotten her.
Sadie ran a hand through her short hair, shoulders lifting in a heavy sigh. If she wanted to feel trapped, she would have stayed at home. Somehow, instead of breaking free, she'd come full circle.
"What am I doing wrong?" she wondered aloud.
The lark looked up and quirked its head. Once again, Sadie couldn't help but smile. The bird always seemed so cheerful, carefree. A part of her felt a little bad for bringing it down.
She caught her line of thought and rolled her eyes. Alright, enough time feeling sorry for yourself.
The floorboards creaked under her weight as she rolled off her mattress, pushing a huge leaf out of the way as she got to her feet. A myriad of shrubs, flowers, vines and small trees lined the walls of her one-roomed apartment. Since she'd started growing them properly a few years ago, they'd rapidly colonised her living space, to the extent that she sometimes felt like an intruder living there. She didn't mind, though. Their broad leaves and bursts of colour covered up the stained, peeling wallpaper and the black mould peppering the ceiling.
