Burd.

When I was younger we had quite the zoo at my house.

Hamsters, dogs, fishies, rats, hermit crabs and birds of all sorts.

Tiki was the crowning glory of this little zoo.

He was a Cockatiel, selected because his breed is legendary for filling the home with beautiful song. The pet store lady told us that Cockatiels are extremely intelligent, loving and loyal. Great for kids. She said that theywere known to nestle upon their owners shoulders and lovingly whistle sweet songs into their ears. She claimed that the great beauty of the bird succeeded only by their beautiful spirit and nature.

This bitch was wrong.

Tiki was an asshole.

He bit. Birds bite? Yes.

He also hissed.

He would SCREAM if you approached his cage. He hated everything. Besides his birdseed of course.

So we bought a lemon of a bird and had to deal with it. And we dealt with it the only way we knew how. We ignored Tiki.

So Tiki and my family lived side by side for 2 years. Tiki would glower from the depths of his cage and we would glare back.

Then one day I took Tiki’s cage outside to clean it. Let me say here that Tiki’s wings were clipped so he was incapable of flying.

So I thought.

I opened the top to the cage. Tiki flies out.

He had willed his wings to grow back I suppose.

He flies to the top branch of a tree. He stares back at me for a moment. Blinks. And then flies away.

The End.