About This Photo
Canon T5i 135mm f/5.6 1/250
“It’s all quite simple,” Scrappy said. “The problem is you haven’t yet identified the obstacle you’re facing.”
Scrappy took a second to preen an errant feather before continuing. “You think that the problem is your situation, but you know the truth. You put yourself in this situation. You believe that your problem is the people who put you here. You put yourself here. So I want you to listen. The only person stopping you from solving your problem is you. I don’t whine when my brothers in the flock won’t let me eat with them. I find food on my own. I don’t complain when my brothers fly so fast that they leave me behind. I get there on my own. I do what I have to do to survive. Sure, they’re not happy about it. They’d like me to go away because I’m tiny and should have been gone a long time ago.
Scrappy shifted his position and looked out over the water. “Now I’m sitting here talking to you when I should be down there looking for breakfast. So I’m going to leave you with this: The only person in your way is you, and deep down, you know what you have to do. You have to fix it. Or you don’t, and that means whatever that means for a human. I couldn’t possibly know. I’m just a rat with wings, right? So you think about it, and if you decide to do something, all you need to do is follow me. Better yet, follow yourself. I’m going to be far away from here this time tomorrow, and it’s time you learned how to survive on your own.
Then, Scrappy flapped his wings a few times and flew away, leaving me to my future.