Stuck. I’m stuck between a door and a music stand, how ridiculous. Now they’re all staring at me. Those stinky theater kids with their starbucks and half torn off costumes. “There’s a bird stuck in the door!” a tall lanky one shouts. Three more crowd into the hallway to ogle me. As this occurs I wiggle my left wing frantically and I break free from the trap. 

Saturday afternoon November 12th, the cast and crew of Sentinel’s production of James and the Giant Peach were rehearsing for their show. In the middle of a short break, cast members noticed a bird had been trapped in a door that had been propped open to allow participants to enter. Ensemble member Miranda Hart quickly notified the director of the show, Katie Cassidy, that there was an animal in the building. Students rushed out to see the spectacle. 

Finally I’m free! I dart down the hallway rushing past several more of those dramatic little gremlins. Many of them chase after me with interest, but I won’t let them touch me. I look frantically for an exit. Then, I see it, my escape. The big, wide, wonderful outside world. Where there are no barriers to keep me trapped. Just the fresh air and me. I zip towards the snow blanketed outside with precision, dodging any of the human miscreants trying desperately to catch me. 

As cast and crew members alike crowded to see the bird caught in the door, the animal worked itself free from the trap and into the building. Seemingly panicked, the bird began racing down the hallways of Sentinel. Assistant director Jasmine Eggert speculated that the bird may have been a sparrow after a rushed assessment while the bird was swooping and diving all over the place. They also noted that the bird did seem to spook a few students as it was trying so hopelessly to escape; however, no one was harmed in the incident. 

Slam! Oh god that hurt. I appear to have been fooled. What I thought was the perfect escape to my one and only true love, the outdoors, seems in reality to be a window. To defend myself, it’s a rather large and sparkling clean window. Ugh, my head hurts now. I really wish I hadn’t crashed beak first, that was rather unfortunate. Wait, what was I doing? Oh yes, escaping that was it. I see there’s a perfect exit right here in front of me, I’ll just fly on out-OUCH! I crashed into the window again. This is ridiculous. How on earth am I supposed to free myself from these overdramatic children! Abruptly, I am shrouded in darkness and trapped in a very cramped trash receptacle. This is even more embarrassing than the whole door thing. 

“[Thomas] Boelman, who helps with set design, had to chase it around the school trying to capture it. Until…it was caught in a trash can and released outside” Eggert reports. Despite the interruption, the students went quickly back to their primary focus: play rehearsal. Although no one involved in the event seems to be greatly affected, students will no longer be propping doors open at Sentinel High school. 

I’m out! The air is cold and clean out here. I am finally reunited with nature.