A Budgie’s Devotion

A Budgie's Devotion

March is always cheerful. Even more for Bob. This morning he was woken up unusually early, to his excitement. He was so tired and bored of the green blanket covering his cage, with the purpose of keeping him quiet at the sun rise. In some sort of miraculous way, today he could see daylight way sooner. And he was singing and mumbling something with excitement, hitting softly the tiny bell he had, to draw attention and announce that he wants to be let out and play in the room. But not all wishes come true at onceā€¦

Before he could entirely realize it, Bob was in an even bigger cage, a weird one. He was in two cages now and kinda lost the excitement of the early morningā€¦All confused, he stood still and tried to guess his masterā€™s plans. No longer than 10 minutes and the huge cage started moving forward, with Bob to the left of his masterā€™s chair. Losing orientation, the blue budgie started squeeking and flying around in circles. But then a voice told him ā€œDonā€™t worry Bob, weā€™re just going on a trip. For today youā€™ll be a good birdy and stay there and tomorrow weā€™ll be already in Eastern Europe and you can play in a new room with Duckā€.

Calmed down by the ā€œbaby talkā€ voice, Bob could stop and observe the things around him better now. So this speeding huge cage has some of those glass walls too, like the room he grew up inā€¦And how weird it lookedā€¦The grey blocks disappeared and he could only see trees and some other moving cages on the strange path they were following. It wasā€¦fascinating and his tiny brain could not fully decide if he should be happy or worried. But he decided to be happy and without a worry, as he never had a hard time with his master.

Then a cold shiver ran through his tail. The seeds! And Duck! He quickly looked around. The food was there, he had plenty. Andā€¦Duck? Where was his dear plastic friendā€¦the tiny rubber duck that he shared everything with, that always listened to him? Even though that strange yellow bird was almost his size, she never changed facial expression. Always with blue calm eyes, staring straight at him. But Duck was always thereā€¦and now Bob couldnā€™t spot her! Even if one of her blue eyes was only half blue now, because on an overexcitement moment, he bit her while playing and the colored paint got erased, she still had to be there always! Then he started flying again in circles making loud unbearable noises. The huge cage stopped, but the blue budgie was still restless. He wasnā€™t curious to see whatā€™s after the glass wall or why the cage stopped moving, he didnā€™t even respond to his masterā€™s calm words. Duck was missing, couldnā€™t he see? They had to go back and postpone the trip, wherever their destination was. Duck was gone, she was missing! Dumb as she was, he was decided not to go anywhere without her.

When a hand reached after him, he knew a kiss was about to come on his fluffy head with blue and white feathers, but he bit the hand and squeeked louder ā€œDUCK!ā€. Nothing mattered anymoreā€¦the new environment, the beautiful early morning, the seeds or the running cageā€¦Seeing that they start moving again, without his beloved friend, Bob stood helpless on the bars of his cage, with a sad look and without a soundā€¦They must have been travelling for days, because he got really boredā€¦No one to talk to, no one to bite and share feelings about the trip withā€¦Still the dark didnā€™t come onceā€¦

After a real hour or so, the huge cage with glass walls stopped again and a sweet voice was reaching his tiny holes which served as ears, on the side of his head: ā€œNow now Bob, donā€™t be sad, you cute thingyā€¦I know someone who can cheer you up! ā€œ. And as a miracle, Duck entered his cage, bouncing in the hand of his ownerā€¦So she was there! In a blink of an eye, Bob jumped on the yellow rubber object and started cuddling, mumbling something with joy. It will be a perfect March dayā€¦!

A Dog’s Sacrifice

A Dog's Sacrifice


It was clouded all of a sudden. The clear blue got covered with dark heavy clouds but the air was dry. Not a rain drop, not a thunder nor a wind breeze. The last hen in yard was struggling with a small worm. The tiny bastard refuses with an admirable stubbornness to get out of the dried out soil. Since Josephā€™s crops finished, it had to find the food by itself. Besides, the other poultry was eaten months ago and there was not much to do alone. So searching for food occupied the whole day of the brainless bird.

On the last step of the house the man in his 60ā€™s, or maybe 80ā€™sā€¦you couldnā€™t tell for sure, thatā€™s how tormented his face was, sat petting his big friend on the black fur. The eyes of the animal were restless and unpatient. Ever since Joseph found the massive dog with a broken leg abandoned next to the railways and took him home, a silent friendship was born. The man rarely spoke and when he did, it was with a faint voice, petting the dog and sharing his bread. But the animal understood somehow. He didnā€™t bark once in the past five months since he was there, as a sign of respect for his savior and new master.

But today something strange was in the air and Dog ( as he was always called ) could feel it. The hand on his head was resting now, giving up the petting motions and the other hand of the man was holding his forehead. ā€œWhat will we eat tomorrowā€¦?ā€ The sky got darker but still no rain. Dog raised his head every 30 seconds and looked at the line of the horizon, as waiting for something to happen. Then he looked at the hen. The worm still wasnā€™t out yet.

Then Dog stood up and started barking loudly, like the devil was chasing him. He was turned towards Joseph and blocked the entrance of the house, showing his sharp white teeth. With a stunned and frightened look, Joseph got up and took one step back. He tried to pass by Dog and enter the house, but the animal was a few centimeters close of biting him, with an anger and rage the man hasnā€™t seen before in his life, not even when he was hunting furious bears. He understood then. Dog was rabid. Moving away from the door of the house, the animal seemed to become more calm, but still stood there guarding the entrance. Trying to talk to him, Joseph had a few attempts to get closer, but the result was the sameā€¦The massive beast started barking and tried to bite. The scene could freeze someoneā€™s blood and even the stupid hen forgot about the worm and ran to the back of the yard, bouncing its round body on the skinny legs.

With the saddest look a man can be capable of, Joseph knew that there was no alternativeā€¦Rabid dogs canā€™t be cured and they only suffer more aliveā€¦His old hunting gun was in the empty stable and he got it. Dogā€™s eyes had a weird wet expression of love and furry at the same time. Without a word, but with a small heavy heart, Joseph shot his friend. The body collapsed in the door way and the dry dust formed a small cloud around it. Sitting in the yard like a fool, staring at what he had done, a strong force shook the ground and Joseph fell unconscious, hitting his head.

It must have been half an hour or so when he got up and sawā€¦There had been an earthquake and the house collapsedā€¦ He could see Dogā€™s tail between the ruinsā€¦He thought he had understood beforeā€¦but he was wrongā€¦The animal paid back the favor of saving a life, as he sensed the disaster coming. Then Joseph knew that he could have been dead in his house if it hadnā€™t been for his furry friendā€¦And a cold tear rolled down his wrinkled cheekā€¦The hen was back now, looking for its wormā€¦