“Not to overuse a metaphor, but, do you think the canary ever missed the sky?”
Tango could feel Jimmy’s gaze on him. “What do you mean?”
“You know. The canary in the coal mine. Did y… did it miss the sky? Does it remember it?”
Tango imagined Jimmy shifting his wings, head quirked staring at the sky. “Depends, I guess, like if it was born down there or not. Or hatched, or whatever.”
“Do birds have like an instinct or something for the sky?”
Jimmy made a sound as if shrugging, and then seemed to remember he couldn’t be seen. “I dunno. I don’t think it particularly matters, if it’s being taken care of, y’know?”
“Did they take care of the canaries in mines back then?”
“Yeah, they obviously had to feed ‘em and stuff. But when the birds passed out from the lack of air or the gas or whatever the miners would like, resuscitate them.”
Tango smirked at the empty air. “Birdie CPR?”
He could feel Jimmy smiling back. “Something like that, I guess. But they did care about the birds.”
“’Cause the birds were the warning.” Tango nodded. “If they were gone, the miners wouldn’t know they were gonna die.”
“I mean, I imagine the miners probably enjoyed the company. I hope they did, anyways. It sounds nice.”
Tango pursed his lip. “Yeah, it’s a lot nicer having a little birdie with ya when you’re down in some dark stinky deadly death cave.”
Jimmy’s gaze was back on him now.
“You asked if the canary ever misses the sky.” Jimmy’s voice was soft. “Maybe it likes the coal mine, sometimes? The sky can be cold and open and lonely. Sure the mine is dark, but the canary has company. A warm home and a hand that feeds it.”
“Making the best of a bad situation.”
He could feel Jimmy’s frown. ”And I mean, if there’s a mine there’s probably like, gemstones and stuff. You don’t find that on the surface.”
Jimmy huffed at him, and Tango watched the players scurrying around in front of them.
“I think they’re digging our graves over there.”
Tango pictured Jimmy sneering at the little cobblestone tombstone the other players stood before, face all scrunched up. He laughed at the image. “Yeah, I don’t think they’re even making me one.”
They watched in silence as others scurried around them and the ship in the distance. There was some saying, or song lyrics or something, about ships and anchors.
“…Did the canary ever love the coal mine?”
Jimmy hummed. “Well, I certainly tried.”
