My Zen Moment
by Stephanie
A yellow chested bird swoops in under the high tin roof to scoop up a spider. She doesn’t get a good grip and the spider falls back to the cement floor of the large patio behind the school, the scene of a riotous game of volleyball only hours before. I am alone for the first time in days and everything seems so quiet. As I stand waiting for the bird to return for her lunch, a pair of butterflies floats across the space, feinting and fluttering in unison. I watch them drift over the roof of the school and for the first time begin to evaluate the week. The kids had fun, I think, and so it has to be called a success. Still reviewing the week’s events, I look up to find the bird has returned. She sits on the cord strung between two beams and watches me. She sings a few notes, turns her eye to me again, then flies across the patio to the mango tree in the playground. I follow her example and take my leave, completely satisfied with the way things have finished.
