Peacock

Steffi sat at the window, staring out at the peacock in her backyard. She'd never imagined that her grandmother would actually grant her wish and give her a peacock for her birthday. They'd been so beautiful at the zoo, strutting around and fanning their feathers while people crowded around them, snapping pictures. A few raucous boys chased the peacocks down the walking path, pulling at their feathers until their mothers screamed at them to stop. Steffi understood their attraction; she asked for a peacock feather at the gift shop before they left.

On the drive home, Steffi's grandmother asked her what her favorite animal had been. Steffi told her she'd never seen anything as beautiful as the peacocks and she brushed her souvenir feather across her cheek. Her grandmother smiled and said, "Imagine what it would be like to look out your window and see one every day."

Steffi drew in her breath and did imagine it. "That would be like a fairytale dream," she exhaled. Then forgot about it.

A month later, when Steffi's grandmother pulled her away from her birthday party games and told her to look out the window, Steffi couldn't believe her eyes. Her grandmother squeezed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "Looks like your fairytale dream came true," she whispered to her granddaughter.

Everyone at the party exclaimed that no gift could top that one. Steffi agreed. But as she watched the peacock lurch across her wooded backyard, its feathers snagging on branches and its feet sinking in mud, she wasn't so sure this was a fairytale after all. The peacock cried a mournful, confused cry as it ran from one end of the yard to the other. One of the boys at the party pleaded to go out into the backyard to see if he could get a feather. Steffi listened to his mother tell him he'd have to ask the birthday girl. Steffi turned her back to her guests and stared out the window at her bird.

Minutes passed and it was time for cake. Steffi's guests sang 'Happy Birthday' and Steffi stared at her flickering candles. She drew in a deep breath, closed her eyes and made her wish as ten candles extinguished. Then she rose from the table and went back to the window to see whether peacocks could fly.