Once upon a time, there was a fledgling pushed to try it's wings too early. It fell down, down, down. And on the way down, the little one flapped it's wings trying to fly. It screeched out hoping others would hear it's cries of distress. But, no one heard. The forest sat quiet and watched in silence as the fledgling spiraled ground ward hitting many limbs as it fell.

When the fledgling hit the ground,she hit painfully hard. When she came to, she found her wing had been broken in the fall. But yet, the injured fledgling tried to hop to safety knowing that danger lurked everywhere. For a spell, she found refuge under a pile of fallen tree limbs. And for a time, the fledgling felt safe there. Safe until, a dog caught her scent and discovered her hiding spot. Just when the fledgling feared that it would be eaten alive, a boy (not yet a man)snatched it up hastily. The fledgling criedout in fear and agony at having been plucked from it's safe abode so roughly.

The boy took the fledgling back to his home where ever so gently he caged it. He crooned and carefully cared for the fledgling making her to believe that he cared for her. And with each passing day, the fledgling grew to mend and began to do things hoping that she might please the boy in return for his kindness. Some days, she sang for him.Other days, she sat quietly in his hand and allowed him to softly stroke the soft down of her not yet fully developed feathers.

But alas, the day dawned when the fledgling found out different. For having previously only shown love, care, and concern, the boy cruelly clipped the fledglings wings until her precious feathers were short. Incapable of flight now, the fledgling could do nothing but depend upon him as her source of everything. And while he did provide her with much of what she needed, he also did other things which did her great harm. He teased her, was rough with her, forgot to nourish her properly, left her alone for long periods of time in the darkness of her covered cage.And all too soon, the very cage that she had originally regarded as a place of safe haven soon came to be stifling prison.

One day though, he knew he would be away for awhile. He knew the fledgling had grown under his care and needed more much space to move about. He granted that and set her free.The boy hoped it would not be forever. He hoped that someday they would be reunited once more.

For a spell, the fledgling was lost and hopped far and wide. She soon came to see that she was far too dependent upon the boy. And about this same time, the fledgling realized that her wing feathers had grown back. That in fact, she could flit and flutter about for short stints of time to find what she needed to nourish her. And with each exercise of her wings, the fledgling soon found herself to be growing stronger and able to venture out into the world further.

And as the days passed and she ventured out further, she discovered many new things. She soon found new likes, new beings to associate with, new ways to look at what had happened to her. And, she found a new sense of happiness and new state of being. And more importantly, she found that life was an experience not to fear but to be fully and thoroughly enjoyed. She learned to see each day as a gift. And in each day, the fledgling found courage enough to spread her wings to try new things. She soon found another. One who made her feel safe. With his gentle urgings, she soon achieved things she never thought herself capable of doing. She built up her nest, laid her precious eggs, and watched joyfully as from those eggs a whole new circle of life sprung forth.

Several seasons went by like this. One day though, the twilight broke gloomy and dark. And, the clouds gathered on the far horizon. The fledgling watched and huddled in her warm, safe nest as it grew closer and closer. She heard and saw the lightning flash and felt the cold, wet droplets pelt her. She knew not to leave her nest and fly away with all the others like her. She had never learned that precious lesson. And since she did not know, the fledgling huddled there - miserable, cold and so very alone.She watched in horror as the storm grew closer. Closing her eyes and willing herself into a peaceful slumber, the fledgling drifted off into a dreamlike state.

In that dream, the fledgling heard a voice from the past call to her. That voice was of the boy who now returned to her a changed man. He told her how things were to be. How it was always going to be. He took her dreams and hopes and told her that nothing good would ever become of them. That, she was nothing. That, she had no rights.

And then again, a loud clap of thunder hit. And from it, the heavens broke loose and the rain poured down in torrents. Hearing the rain, the fledgling stirred again in the warmth of her down filled bed. Opening her eyes slowly, she stretched and wondered about the dream she'd just had. Pondering it carefully, she padded quietly past the other rooms in the house to the bathroom.She grabbed her toothbrush and applied liberal amounts of paste to it and began brushing her teeth. A ritual she did first thing every morning. And as she did, she caught sight of the being in the mirror and stopped toothbrush midair. There before her in the mirror, the fledgling realized the meaning behind her nightmarish dream. "Why that fledgling was me." she thought. She thought of how caged, how controlled and manipulated she'd been. As well as, how very fearful she'd been at that time in her life.

She looked in the mirror again. And when she did, she no longer saw the fledgling that she'd once been. Instead, she spied a being changed and transformed by the events of the past couple of years. A person who now looked at people and life very differently. A person with very different needs now than she had in the past. A beautiful person instead looked back at her. A person no longer fearful or mistrustful of everyone and everything. No, now she saw a person ready to embrace others and the world in which she resided.

And, it was there and then that she made herself a promise to never allow another to treat her as just a mere fledgling of a girl...but to treat her with all the love, respect and admiration of the woman she had become. Sadly, she knew at that moment that her past, that had in some sense served her well,was now at an end. But at the same time, she found herself thoroughly excited over the prospects of what the future would bring. She carefully signed I love you in the mirror at herself. And then in a flutter of fire and spirit, she was gone.

And thus just as the fledgling is mistrustful of all those she encounters, so should you be mistrustful of the fledgling that has found her wings to fly. For before you know it, she will have transformed right before your very eyes. Her wings, once clipped, will someday also be capable of carrying her further away than you ever could have imagined. And when you least expect it,in the blink of an eye, she will be gone from your grasp forever - never to be held again.

The moral of this story - never clip a fledglings wings too close.