The Pink Feather

Once, before the age of the internet, there was a boy by the name of Johnny. He was about 7, and went to kindergarten. Every day, little Johnny would ride the bus to and from school. And boy, did he love riding the bus. You see, he shared the bus ride with his best friend and pseudo-mentor, Joe. Now Joe was a cool teenager; he was a high schooler, and even had a girlfriend! Joe was everything Johnny aspired to be and more.

One morning, Johnny sat down on the bus and waited eagerly for Joe’s stop. As the bus slowed to a stop, Johnny got up on his knees in order to see Joe. Joe, cool as ever, waited with his hands in his pockets and leaning on a wall. He looked at Johnny as he entered the bus and Johnny saw that Joe wore the biggest smile on his face that Johnny had ever seen! So when Joe sat down, little Johnny asked Joe, “Hey Joe, what happened to you? Why are you so happy?”

And Joe, he looked around to check if anyone was paying attention, got really close to Johnny, and whispered in his ear, “I did something with my girlfriend last night for the first time.” Johnny giggled and asked what it was. Joe looked around again, and, as if he were afraid to exclaim it, ripped out a small piece of paper and wrote, “I gave my girlfriend the Pink Feather!” before letting Johnny read it and swallowing it to destroy the evidence.

Now Johnny was just a kid; he didn’t know what the Pink Feather was, so he shyly voiced his innocent question, “Joe, what’s the Pink Feather?” And little Johnny was met with the coldest, emotionless gaze from Joe which Johnny could feel piercing his soul.

Joe told Johnny, “Look Johnny, I know we’ve been friends for a long time, but I just can’t hang out with a kid so ignorant. As of right now, you’re dead to me. We’re never talking again.”

And Johnny froze. Was this some sort of joke? Did Joe really mean they wouldn’t be friends anymore? Was this all because of that Pink Feather? They sat in silence until the bus stopped in front of the elementary school. Johnny had to climb over Joe, who wouldn’t even make eye contact with the poor kid. “B-bye Joe.. See you after school, ok?”

At school, Johnny eventually came to the conclusion that there’d be no way that Joe would stop being his friend over something so silly. He’d either get over it, or reveal the cruel joke after a few days. So that afternoon, Johnny waited for Joe on the bus. Joe sat far away from Johnny, not even casting a glance in his direction. It hurt, but Johnny knew it’d be ok soon enough.

A few days went by without any contact between the two. Eventually Joe stopped taking the bus altogether. He probably got a ride from one of his high school friends. That day at school, Johnny was visibly distraught. The weight of losing his best friend came crashing down on him, and he couldn’t bear the pain anymore. Johnny cried and cried, and a teacher had to pull him outside to ask what was wrong.

He whined, “Muh-my friend… Joe.. He.. He said he wouldn’t be my friend no more!”

The teacher crouched down to get at eye level and asked him, “Why’s that Johnny? I couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to be friends with such a polite kid as you!”

And Johnny said, “because.. I.. I didn’t know what the Pink Feather was!” And his teacher stood straight up. She was disgusted with Johnny and sent him to the Principal’s Office without another word. He waited for hours, saw his teacher come by after class and leave, giving him a dirty look, and Johnny waited some more. Eventually his parents came by to pick him up! They sat with Johnny, and his father told him, “you are in a lot of trouble young man! Just wait until the principal tells us what you did!”

After what felt like an eternity, Johnny and his parents were called into the office where the principal told them that Johnny had a foul mouth, but the teacher refused to repeat what Johnny said. They asked Johnny to repeat it and Johnny slowly said, “I just said that, because of the Pink Feather, Jo-“

Johnny was interrupted twofold when his mother started bawling, and when his father immediately covered Johnny’s mouth and gave him a few spankings right there in the principal’s office. The principal exclaimed, “we don’t tolerate this kind of behavior here. Get that child out of here and don’t bring him back! I’ll make sure no school in the state will school him!”

So Johnny went home and was sent straight into his room. He heard his parents scream at each other for a long time, and heard his name quite a bit as well as a lot of words he didn’t recognize. Johnny was scared to death and could barely sleep at all that night.

The following morning, Johnny’s father woke him up with a bucket of ice water and immediately started to explain, “Johnny, your mother and I have had a long discussion and she can’t handle having raised a monster such as you. So we’re sending you to a therapeutic boarding school until you’re ready to live by yourself. This is goodbye Johnny; we have a driver outside waiting to take you away.”

So little 7-year-old Johnny had to say good-bye to his father for good (his mother wouldn’t see him out), and move to a boarding school. It was at this point that Johnny vowed never to mention the Pink Feather ever again. So he went through school, living with troubled kids, and eventually received a GED without any more trouble from the Pink Feather. He even made it into college!

Without a place to go home to, Johnny moved into the dorms and met his roommate, Steve. Steve was a pretty friendly, but quiet guy, and they both got along great. In fact, they shortly became best friends. They were inseparable all throughout their undergrad years, and Johnny even came to Steve’s home for holidays and vacations. They both decided to continue their education and receive a PhD, so they stayed close friends for many more years.

One day, Steve decided to ask Johnny a question that had been pressing at his mind (and that Johnny avoided) for a long time, “Johnny. Why don’t you have friends from your childhood? Why don’t you ever go home to visit your parents?”

Johnny sighed, took a good moment to muster up the courage, and Steve continued, “Johnny, we’ve been best friends for almost 10 years now. You can tell me anything.”

With this, Johnny was satisfied that he could share his deepest darkest secret with Steve. “When I was a child, I was kicked out of public school and disowned by my parents because I talked about the Pink Feather. And I don’t even know what it is!”

Steve was packed up and out of the dorm within the week. Johnny, exasperated, went for a good long walk around town to gather his thoughts. *I lost my bests friends in the world. My family. My home. Everything. And it’s all because I don’t even know what the darned Pink Fea-* BAM. Johnny was so deep in thought, he wasn’t paying attention to his path and got hit by a bus.