Day 118: In Halley’s Own Words

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 118: In Halley’s Own Words

Hello, my name is Halley and I’m in a whole lot of trouble. Let me tell you my story …

One day I was sitting on the ledge of the balcony, minding my own business, when I suddenly sensed movement in the bird’s nest.

Yes, would you believe it, in a household that has four cats, a pair of finches decided to raise a family. If you ask me that’s just asking for trouble. They could have picked any balcony, any balcony at all and enjoyed peace and quiet, but no, they choose to build their nest here.

Once the nest was built, mama bird dropped six eggs and then with amazing patience sat on those eggs until six chicks hatched. The parents flew back and forth with food for the little ones, judging by their peeping they were growing, and I knew it was only a matter of time before those chicks turned into proper birds.

Me, I was biding my time. While the chicks were babies they weren’t worth bothering with, toothpicks if you ask me, but I knew that in due time there would be some meat on those bones. So, I sat and I waited.

.

I didn’t have to wait long. Two days ago the baby birds were ready to fly. I watched them leave the nest and to my utter amazement, mama and papa bird were there to show them where there was a hole in the netting (in the upper left-hand corner). Those birds were smarter than I thought because four of them of them figured it out in no time.

The fifth one, however, wasn’t as clued up and landed a short distance from where I was sitting. I didn’t think twice … I made my move and grabbed the bird with my teeth.

If I thought mom would be pleased that I caught a bird I was sadly mistaken. When she saw that I had something in my mouth she said: “What you got there Halley?” When she saw it was one of the baby bird she looked shocked and said “Bad kitty cat! That’s bad Halley.”

I ran to her bedroom with my meal, but she followed me. When I ran to the bathroom, she followed me there too and closed the door. Now I had nowhere to go. “Drop it,” she commanded. “I said drop it!” So I did.

And would you believe it, when I dropped the bird she picked it up and when she saw it was dead she wrapped it in tissue paper and placed it somewhere where I couldn’t get to it. “Don’t ever do that again!” she said, wagging a finger in my face.

Don’t ever do that again? What on earth was she talking about? I’m a cat, the baby was a bird, what did she expect me to do?

Anyway, I went back outside on the balcony and sat there, sulking.

A few minutes after I got there, the sixth bird left the nest and landed on the left-hand side of the floor.

Then he flew toward the ceiling.

And then he came and sat right in front of me.

Oh, he looked so tasty. I could feel my mouth water.

So I called "Maaaaaaaaa, can I have this one?"

When she noticed that there was still one bird on the balcony, she scooped me up, brought me inside and closed the screen door to the balcony. Well, I never! Now I couldn’t even go outside anymore! How was I gonna catch this bird if I couldn’t go out? So I sat there and I thought … oh, this blows.

Eventually, the baby bird settled in one of the flower pots and remained there for the rest of the day. I could have gone out, grabbed him and ate him, but it was not to be. The door remained closed.

It got better though, or shall I saw it got worse. Much worse. When Dieter came home, mom asked him to catch the bird. YES I thought, dad is gonna catch the bird for me. I won’t have to do a thing. I’m gonna get that bird after all. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.

Do Dieter went outside, talked to the bird, and within minutes he had him. No cat food for me tonight, I thought, I’m getting a bird. Dealing with the feathers wasn’t very appealing, but okay, I would deal with that when the time came.

And then to my astonishment, to my utter amazement, mom went outside, took a picture of the bird, and then dad raised the bird to the hole in the netting and set it free. “Nooooooooo!” I cried, ‘There goes my meal, or rather my afternoon snack.”

As I watched the baby fly toward the trees I thought with tears in my eyes … bye bye, birdie.

So that’s my sad story. My only comfort being … finches have been making their nest on our balcony for the past three years. With any luck, some birds will do the same next year and when they do, I’ll be ready. But oh dear, a whole year is such a long wait ... 

www.connymanero.weebly.com