I’ll never forget the morning it happened. I woke up, and the birds outside weren’t just chirping they were talking. And I understood them.
At first, I thought I was dreaming. But when a tiny robin on my windowsill greeted me with, “Nice weather today, huh?” I knew something magical was going on.
I threw on my shoes and ran to the park. The world felt louder in the best way,alive with stories I’d never heard before. A squirrel darted up a tree and said, “Humans are so clumsy. You’d never survive a winter like we do!” I laughed and asked how he remembers all the places he hides his food. “I don’t always. That’s how trees grow,” he grinned.
Later, I sat on a bench and chatted with some pigeons. One of them puffed out his chest and said, “We’re not just city birds, you know. We’ve flown across countries. We feel the world move.” I was in awe.
But the zoo was where my heart cracked open. I met an old elephant named Madu. Her eyes were deep, full of sorrow and grace. “I remember everything,” she said quietly. “The joy, the fear, the ones I’ve lost. We carry it all.”
A monkey nearby interrupted, swinging playfully. “Do you always stare at us like that?” I paused, realizing how little we consider their feelings. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll do better.”
Before the sun set, I spoke to a slow-moving turtle by the pond. “Why do you seem so at peace?” I asked. He looked at me and said, “Because nothing worth having is ever rushed.”
When night came, the voices faded. But I didn’t feel alone. For the first time, I had truly heard the world.