Three years ago,

I was in the very same mall

With the very same attitude

At the very same time

And I ran into the bathroom

To splash water on my face

After the fear of the first date

Nearly consumed me alive

She followed me into the room

Although I thought I could escape them

And asked,

"Ashlynn, are you okay?

The boys are waiting for you outside,"

I should have taken that as an omen

That even now, I'll never escape those boys

I walk through the mall now

And see something I haven't seen 

In a while:

Birds.

Black and green, chittering and chirping

Eating some stranger's leftover hamburger

On the scorching pavement.

I thought to myself:

Where had all the birds gone?

I suppose after all the carnage and wreckage

Our town had succumbed to

They decided to flee as well.

And now the birds are back.

So I guess it was a reminder

Of how the sun always shines again

After coming back from the brink of disaster

And now I see the Christmas lights

And the waving Santa's

And the lattes and the sweaters and the music boxes

And I know

That the sun has risen again

And the birds are back.