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// Chapter 5- Miracle 
// Story: A Beautiful Lie 
// by Sorenthehero117 
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Chapter 5- Miracle

What on Earth was that? What kind of dream was this? This dream felt almost too vivid. But what was that mysterious creature? I-I can't get her out of my mind: her voice, her appearance, but what really got me, were her words: 'If you want to know me more, come meet me in this exact spot. Please don't wait too long. I'll miss you'. What was she trying to say? It felt like she was asking me to visit her in the forest where I saw her in the dream. I know its gotta be my imagination, I mean come on, 'Wake up Ellis, you were talking to a mythological hybrid'. I chuckled and decided to ignore it, as I finished waking up, feeling more refreshed and perked up than ever before. It felt good to be fully rested for once. I think I earned it after breaking my back studying for classes I'm most likely gonna fail, with the exception of Psychology. Why do I even bother then? Its not like I'm going to college or anything. Why bother? Its a waste of time and money considering I don't have anything to amount to.

My saturday started like any other saturday: I wake up, make my bed, take a shower, have breakfast, dress up, and start the day, which on saturdays consist of studying, more studying, and more freaking studying. However today I felt somewhat more relaxed, and energetic. Instead of locking myself at my house studying, I wanted to go out for a jog. I don't know why, I just... Felt like running. I felt good, I felt fit, me being the skinny loser that I am, this feeling was incredible, but I don't understand why I'm feeling it, but I digress. I went up to my room and put on a pair of running shoes, shorts and a tank top, and ran outside to the sidewalk with a very geeky smile on my face as I stared at the long and empty sidewalk. Without even saying a word, I started walking fast... As I walked, I began picking up speed and started jogging... Before I knew it, I started running all over the side walk, feeling the cool winter air breezing through my face as I ran past every house in the neighborhood. After what felt like 2 hours, I looked up, not even breaking a sweat, as I saw what appeared to be Philomena flying out of her cage. She flew below and was able to keep up with me as I ran. I immediately began to question how she got out of her cage, but I was feeling the heat of the moment, and decided to just go with it until I couldn't run anymore. I never felt this good before. It felt great to run again. I always loved running, ever since I was a kid. It was the most fun I ever had by myself whenever I had nothing good to do. It was great to be back, and it felt even greater to have Philomena on my side, seeing as how she was my only friend.

After circling the neighborhood for what felt like 4 hours, which is lesser compared to how many hours I clocked running as a child, I was tired and dehydrated. I began walking my way home with Philomena standing on my shoulder as she "cooed" softly. It sounded adorable and I couldn't help but giggle and pet her as I walked by and noticed my house nearby. I wanted to run, but I was too exhausted that I just wanted to lay down on the couch and watch a movie with my new bird. Around the other side of the road, a familiar face was walking down the road waving at me. My old friend Raul was here. I was pretty excited, because Raul and I were pretty close friends in middle school and lost contact when he moved to Orlando 5 years ago. As he drew closer, my face began to smile as he got close to me. 'Ellis buddy, how the hell are you?', he said after shaking my hand. 'Not much actually', I said to him. 'I heard about your old man last week. Nobody informed me and I wasn't aware. Sorry it took me so long to get here man', he began speaking in an apologetic tone as I lightly hugged him and spoke: 'Don't even worry about it. I'm just happy to see you again.', I told him smiling as he smiled again.

I invited him to my house for a drink and as we went inside, we began to make conversation. Its funny how we talk for like 40 minutes and he mentions nothing about the bird on my shoulder. As a joke, I decided to bring her into the conversation, 'So... Notice anything new about me?', I said in a seemingly sarcastic tone as he replied 'No not really'. I chuckled for like 3 seconds and pointed at my shoulder and spoke, 'Notice the crimson colored bird on my shoulder?', and then he said, 'What bird?'. Thats when I started laughing. 'Come on, seriously. Look at the bird on my shoulder', I said with a smile on my face as he looked at me with a serious face, 'Ellis, what are you talking about? There is nothing on your shoulder.' Thats when I looked at him seriously as well, while at the same time, talking sternly. 'Raul, seriously: look at the bird. Her name is Philomena.', I said to him trying to get him to stop joking around. 'Are you doing Acid or something Ellis? There's no damn bird on your shoulder', he said with a very confused look on his face as I got a little mad. 'Raul, this isn't funny anymore', I told him trying to snap some sense into him as he looked at me, almost terrified and took my arm, pulling me to the mirror. 'Ellis, what do you see?', he said in an almost monotone voice. 'What do I see, what do I- Its us: you, me and-', I stopped when I gasped in sheer horror as I saw literally nothing on my shoulder on the mirror.