The bird in the cage had lived there ever since the day, when the farmer on a walk in the neighbouring hills, found it as a chick. Often it would look out of the bars of the cage, to the fields and trees beyond. It often would notice other birds flying free in the air, and couldn’t help wonder what it would feel like to be able to feel the wind in its feathers, to feel the sun on its back, to swoop and soar and to catch insects and snatch flies in mid flight.

When the bird thought those thought’s, its heart pounded with excitement. It sat tall and straight in its perch, it held its head high and proud and breathed deep into its bird belly. Experiencing the sense of possibility.

Some times another bird in its travels would land on the window sill of the farmer’s house. When they looked at the bird in the cage they would wonder in amazement. How is it possible for a bird to live in a cage? Unimaginable.

It was at these times that the bird in the cage felt most miserable. Its head slumped and it felt heaviness in its heart and deep in its stomach.

One day the farmer accidentally left the door of the cage open. The bird looked through the bars of the cage, saw the birds swooping and soaring outside, the sun on their backs and the wind in their feathers, and it felt a stirring inside. It was then that the caged bird noticed that the door of the cage was open. Its heart started to race at the prospect of being free.

The bird considered its options.

It was still considering its options at sunset when the farmer returned home and closed the door of the cage.

The bird for what ever reason, valued security over freedom.