What the eyes see

When I lived in a house some ten years ago, I was a troubled teen heading in the wrong direction. I was just no good and no good to anybody and especially to myself. What may have saved me was a special relationship I had...with a bird. We had a bird feeder in the backyard and one day when it was empty and I went to fill it, a swarm of birds came near ready to pounce. But one bird came very close and I thought it would land on me. It would be a very long time before it trusted me enough to actually sit on my arm and eat from my hand. But when it did, it was really great and I think from then on, I began to head in a new direction.
Then one day I tried to grab the bird but it bit me and flew away, never to come back. It took a long time to build that trust and when I broke it, it was broken forever. A lifetime of kindness cannot make up for a moment of cruelty.

Sometimes you hear words that you can hardly believe. They hang in the air and you can remember the exact tone and inflection of the person who said it and never forget their voice though you may forget their name. Even if they're not directed at you, these words seem to somehow encompass all your fears and doubts.
When that bird flew off for the last time after I harmed it, I saw the world through different eyes.