I am a bird.  I can fly as far as I like, with no limitations.  I am solitary, though.  I sometimes wish I could be like the geese in a flock. They are always together; they rely on each other.  I do not travel in a flock.  I am alone. 

I am a tree.  I watch as birds fly by.  I cannot move.  I will never be able to move.  I first landed here as a seed, then grew into a sapling.  There are no other trees around.  Sometimes I get very lonely.  I long to fly like the birds.

“I am Martha.  This is my first time going to school.  I used to live with my mother and father, but now I don’t.  I like to read and go outside.  Umm… I guess that’s all.”
“Thank you, Martha.  Now, would anyone…”
Martha stopped listening to what the woman was saying.  She swung her legs, imagining her feet gently touching the ground, walking across the soft grass.  She began to walk faster and faster, until she was running, swiftly cutting through the air as she sped across the field.  She opened her arms wide, and laughed as she felt the wind on her arms.  Traveling faster and faster, her feet lifted off of the ground.  She felt herself just leaving the earth, taking off for-
“Martha!”
Martha was suddenly jolted back to reality, sitting in this chair in the barren, dreary room.  The woman’s sharp scowl cut through Martha’s soul.  Trying to fight this subliminal invasion, she kept the woman’s gaze, narrowing her eyes and returning the look. 
“That’s enough.  Come with me.”  The woman briskly took Martha by the hand and dragged her out of the room, slamming the door shut and leaving Martha alone in the hallway. 
Slightly dazed, Martha looked around her.  There was a large window at the end of the hall.  She made her way towards it, stepping uncertainly and very slowly. 
Up to this point, Martha had mentally blocked out the events that had brought her here to this school for troubled girls. All that she knew was that she was here now, in this dismal institution, and had just been thrown out of the room. 
Finally, she found herself at the window.  The sun was shining over the trees, which were full and green.  There was a little bird in the tree, a bluebird.  Although she could not hear it, Martha knew that the bird was singing its chipper song with joy and brightness.  It was a lovely song, one of hope and freedom.  It was as if the bird was speaking directly to Martha, saying, “Everything will be all right.  The world is a wonderful place, if you only will take a moment to see it.” 
Oh, how Martha longed to fly with the bird!  To be so free in the air, to not have to trouble herself with the toils of the earth, to simply dance with the wind forever. 
As if on cue, the little bluebird took off, soaring away from sight. 

I am a bird.  I saw a girl looking at me.  She had simple brown hair and brown eyes.  She was very small, not much older than six years old.  I wonder what she was doing in the place.  I could see the intelligence in her eyes.  She looked alone, very much like me.  I couldn’t stand the desperate look in her eyes, so I flew away.

I am a tree.  There was a bird perched on my branch.  She was singing a sweet song, first one for freedom, then one of longing.  She was a lonely little bird.  I empathize with her.  I feel very lonely myself sometimes.  I could sense her pain while she sat upon my branches, but then she flew away.  I was left by myself once again.  I thought I sensed another distant presence but I wasn’t sure.  Being a tree, I have no vision, so I’m unable tell whether what I feel is real or imaginary.

What these three souls did not know was that they were connected.  Although they were so different in so many ways, deep inside of them, they were all the same.  They each longed for something.  Martha longed for freedom.  Even at the young age that she was, she felt stifled where she was.  She had no friends, no family.  She escaped to her own world of make-believe, but that was not quite enough.  The bird had this freedom, but it wasn’t worth anything to her.  She was alone and miserable.  She wanted some sort of companionship, someone to fly with.  Freedom is not existent if it is not used.  The tree longed for freedom and company.  He could sense these other two lost souls and the connection they all shared.  The tree was wise.  The bird was free.  Martha was inspired.  Between them all, there was a bond that transcended the body and the mind.  They were connected by the soul. 
There were whispers.  Martha heard them.  They all, though of the same age as her, separated themselves from her.  They were talking about how different she was from the rest of them.  She didn’t mind.  She knew she was different, and she had always been isolated.  It was now just a way of life to her. 
She thought of the bird on the tree she saw outside.  It must be so wonderful to live outdoors all of the time.  The bird and the tree, they had each other.  They didn’t whisper or shun or show any sort of cruelty at all.  They were content where they were.  Martha tried to find that contentment, but couldn’t find it where she was.  There wasn’t much she could do about it, though.  After all, she was only six.
Every day after that, the bird returned to that tree, and every day, Martha spent any spare time she had gazing out the window at the bird and the tree.  The bird was very interested in Martha, as Martha was with the bird.  They could communicate simply by looking at each other, using some sort of subconscious signaling.  As for the tree, he enjoyed having the company of the bird and of Martha’s presence.  As time passed and as they all grew older, it seemed as though the world changed around these three.  By the time Martha was grown enough to leave her school, she wasn’t sure what to do.  She finally decided to come meet the bird and the tree.
So Martha, now almost eighteen, strolled up to the tree; all motion seemed to stop.  The bird, perched as usual atop the tree, looked at the now grown girl, exchanging a look of understanding with her.  The bird was now very old, much older than a bluebird usually lives.  She had treasured these years and the comfort that they had brought her, but she knew that she would soon not be able to return to the tree.  The tree, who would be around for a while more still, now was surrounded by three new saplings that had been planted a few years ago.  Martha, of course, knew that she would be leaving soon to finally get a taste of the freedom she had always desired, a new beginning. 
They remained together for several minutes.  All three of them felt somehow more fulfilled by this meeting.  They knew that somehow, despite the extreme differences between them, they had gained so much from each other.  They had found contentment and comfort in their mutual struggles.  Finally, Martha whispered what the other two were thinking.
“Thank you.”