Mom had turned into a bird overnight, and dad couldn’t keep it a secret for long, he kept her hidden in the closet, but the song got louder and we started looking around the house wondering where it came from, and dad let us have a glimpse in the closet and we couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw mom in there, and we had no idea what to do next, we’re not familiar with birds, we haven’t been out in the wild, and dad cried a little when he said, I thought she was happy.

Mom has wings and a beautiful voice, at least she didn’t turn into a cockroach or another bug, I thought, but my sister cried, she said, how could she do this to us, as if mom had chosen to shapeshift and give up on us, and my brother remained silent for a while, then he asked, who will cook dinner, and dad tried to cut her wings, to turn her back into the person we knew and loved, the person who loved us and took care of us, but those damn wings kept growing back.

Mom turned into a bird overnight, and our little heaven fell apart, but we tried hard to build a new heaven and we do our best to keep it, my brother cooks, my sister does the laundry, dad cleans the house, and I take care of the garden, and mom is out of the closet and flies happily over our heads. We know better now than hope and pray there is an easy heaven, because there isn’t. And if it looks like there is, it isn’t real, and if it is real, it won’t last long, and if it lasts long, it’s at someone’s expense, and it will eventually show, and it will spawn birds.