Metaphor: In case you didn't get it

When I was a very young girl, I found a baby bird barely hanging on to life.  I took it home to save it.  By the time I got it the two blocks to my house, the chick was dead.  But I kept insisting it was alive.  If a breeze rustled its feathers, I took it for breath and movement.  I wanted it to live.  I wanted it to fly away.