Alphabet Allie's Arc

Chapter 6 of 7

Allie walked away from the fence and the donkey who didn't know his own worth yet. Her feet carried her through the back lots where grass grew tall and wild. She needed space to think. The world felt too full of things she couldn't fix with words or actions or anything she knew how to give. Then she saw the elm tree. It stood alone in the middle of an empty lot, its trunk split into two thick columns that wrapped around each other like twisted rope. Murky water pooled at its roots. The branches reached high above everything else, and perched at the very top sat a brown eagle with white tail feathers. He watched her with sharp yellow eyes, his head tilting as he studied her green dress with all twenty-six letters stitched across it. Allie froze. She waited to see if he would fly away like the mysterious child had, like so many people did when she tried to share what mattered to her. But the eagle just kept looking. After a moment, he shifted his gaze away from her and scanned the grass below, searching for movement. Allie's shoulders relaxed. He'd decided she was safe. Not worth flying from. Not a threat. She walked closer to the tree and spotted something nestled between the gnarled roots—a bright plush fish with rainbow fins and wide stitched eyes. It looked nothing like an eagle, nothing like the hunt happening above her head. Someone had left it here anyway, beneath this tree where the eagle kept watch. Allie picked up the fish and turned it over in her hands. Its fins were soft, each color sewn in careful layers. She looked up at the eagle again. He was still searching, still patient, doing exactly what eagles do. Allie set the fish back where she'd found it and stepped away from the tree. The eagle didn't need her to explain why he mattered. He didn't need a statue or a sign or someone telling him his job was important. He just did what he was made to do, and that was enough. Allie felt something loosen in her chest. Maybe that's what she'd been missing. Not everyone needed to be convinced or celebrated or understood the same way. Some things—some beings—just were, and their worth didn't depend on anyone else seeing it. She touched one of the letters on her dress and smiled. The eagle spread his wings slightly, adjusting his balance, and kept hunting. Allie turned and walked back toward her house, knowing something she hadn't known before.