feathers growing on my head

I was talking with a new friend and noticed she had tiny opalescent feathers growing from her scalp around her hairline. I touched them to feel their softness. I went out of the room for a moment and into another room I understood to be mine, and looked in the mirror. Seeing her feathers had sparked a memory: didn't I have feathers growing from my scalp too? I felt through my hair, searching for feathers and, sure enough, I found the stem of a large feather growing at the base of my head. I freed the feather from hair, being careful not to pull it out, and revealed a white feather stamped with a black mandala pattern. It looked to be symbolic. The feather also looked a little battered, as though it had seen better days. I went back into the first room to show my friend. She was amazed I too grew feathers and wondered why mine seemed older than hers. I imagined it was mostly because I was at least ten years older than her, and perhaps because I had forgotten my feathers.

feathers

My father had soft yellow feathers on the soles of his feet. Not stuck to his feet but growing out of his skin, sprouting like the plumage of a luxuriously fluffy bird.

birds

I was sitting high up on the front verandah of my first house, the family home where I lived until I was eleven. The cement was old and cool under my legs and the old metal railing enclosed the space. Trees stood tall around the verandah, so that some branches reached over, almost to where I sat. An elegant white, blue and black bird, as big as a hen, flew down onto the verandah and sat quite close to me, close enough that I could reach out and stroke her silky tail feathers. I was amazed at her trust. A pair of crows circled around and perched on a nearby branch, content to observe the scene. Then another pair of birds arrived. The male was magnificent: ruby red, emerald green and sapphire blue designs embroidered his plumage and his chest was broad and strong. His beautiful mate was soft grey and white, a smaller and more delicate bird. She flew onto my right shoulder and nestled her body into the curve of my neck. I placed my hand upon her and felt the light weight of her body. I immediately understood that she wasn't well and that her mate, who watched me intently, was entrusting her to me, that he had brought her here to regain her strength.