from B S Finch
Chapter One:
The Right Finch
The birds scattered wildly as the hand reached into the pet store’s crowded cage. Perched alone in the middle of this frantic fluttering stood a single zebra finch. He didn’t move.
"That's the one, " Honey exclaimed.
The hand closed in on this fearless finch. A palm-sized, gray zebra finch, with orange circles on each cheek and a bright orange-red beak. He had a soft, white chest tucked beneath the gray wings. He had black and white striped tail feathers. That one.
He dared the hand to try to grab him.
And it did.
Actually, the finch was daydreaming and didn't know what happened.
Chapter Two:
Jamie and His Two Servants
The timid tiny finch tried to peep through the small air holes in the cardboard bird-box. The trip from the pet store was a completely new experience.
The young finch knew he was moving. He saw flashes of light and dark passing by the peepholes. Sometimes the box would tip from side to side, from one corner to another. Inside the box the finch slid back 'n forth. When this happened a soft voice said, “Sorry... "
"How much longer, Dad?" asked the sorry speaker.
"Honey, tell him we're almost there." said a distant, deeper voice.
Jamie figured out the deep voice was called Dad, the softer one, Honey. Dad and Honey. What were they doing?
"Jamie," a gush of warm air came into the box as Honey whispered closely, trying to calm the precious finch, "just a few more minutes -- wait 'til you see your new home!"
Jamie was the name they had selected for the finch. He had never been named before; only humans name things. It didn’t bother him, yet.
At last the car they were riding in stopped. Honey carried Jamie from the car to his 'new home'. The box rocked like a boat tossed around in a hurricane. Jamie spun inside, dazed, until he was finally released into a lovely pink-wired cage. It took the finch a few minutes to adjust to his new surroundings.
"Pink?" Jamie whined to himself.
"Dad, I don't think birds belong in boxes," Honey noted, "-- or cages."
"Neither do I," Dad agreed and put his arm around Honey. She was about eight years old with long, sandy blond hair. Dad was much older and darker (he hadn't shaved that day). Dad stood there in his favorite purple sweatshirt and looked like a grape ape to the finch.
"Can we leave the cage open?" she asked.
Dad paused for a moment. Honey was right, living things are not meant to be caged.
"Can we?" she asked again.
"We can prop the gate open," Dad reasoned, "and see what happens. Okay?"
"Okay," smiled Honey.
And so they opened the cage door. Jamie flew out. The free bird circled the room checking-out HIS new property. This seemed like a good deal for the finch.
A week later while Honey and Dad went out on errands Jamie flew down to the animal book that Honey had been using. She had been looking for information about finches.
Jamie landed on top of a finch photograph. He thought it was a picture of himself. How famous I AM, Jamie realized.
Jamie did an exciting dance with his wings and his toes. A few pages flipped over. The book was now opened to a small picture of an eagle.
Jamie looked at the eagle's picture and compared it to himself. He wasn't impressed.
Hey, I'M BIGGER than that, Jamie bragged.
Jamie rocked his black and white stripped tail and ran his bright beak along the edge of the page. The page turned over. Now a herd of elephants stared at him. Jamie had heard rumors of giant elephants but this was the first time that he had actually seen some. He wasn't impressed. His shadow covered the entire picture.
I'M GREATER than elephants, he thought proudly.
Jamie felt pretty good about himself thinking that he was greater than an eagle or a herd of elephants and famous enough to be in a book.
Suddenly Jamie heard keys rattling in the front door, a split second before it opened. Jamie whisked back to his cage. Honey and Dad had returned with more supplies. They both greeted the finch, "Hello, Jamie."
Jamie ignored them.
Dad fastened a new wicker nest inside the cage for Jamie. Jamie just sat on his perch not afraid of the giant-sized hands fumbling in the corner of his cage.
Actually, Jamie was distracted thinking about all he had seen. He's a FAMOUS finch, greater than an eagle and a herd of elephants and certainly deserving of special treatment...
So it's not surprising that this fine finch came to the conclusion that Honey and Dad were HIS servants. After all, they clean the place. They deliver fresh sprouts, fresh seeds, fresh water, and change his bath daily. He only has to finish his millet stick and it is replaced immediately. These humans are useful and faithful. Like good pets.
Jamie peered out at his new kingdom and sang a happy song, “I’m special, so very special...". Then he retired into the new nest for some privacy.
Early the next morning Jamie noticed that his seed dish hadn't been changed yet. This upset him. A famous finch deserved better treatment. Honey and Dad had been out late the night before and were still sleeping. So far, Honey and Dad had proven to be quite reliable but perhaps they needed a little extra training to keep them in line.
In the quiet, cool morning air Jamie squawked as loud as he could and, if that wasn't enough, he swooped down across their faces to wake them both and remind them to get going on their duties. "Get up!" he yelled.
It worked. Honey, half asleep, got up from her bed and filled his seed dish; Dad crawled out of his bed and changed Jamie's water and gave him fresh sprouts. They were too tired to realize that Jamie their fickle finch was ordering them around. They went back to their beds, grumbling to themselves. Jamie decided that he'd do this every morning from now on.
Jamie had become one spoiled finch, destined for trouble.
Chapter Three:
Jamie Discovers Art
It was Honey's birthday. Time for a party.
She had just finished making a WELCOME poster when she had to hurry off with Dad to pick up her cake at the bakery. Honey left the poster on the floor to dry.
Alone, Jamie thought he'd take the opportunity to inspect his kingdom; something today was different. His two servants had been acting weird, especially Honey.
"What's this?" he said as he flew down to examine the watercolor tray Honey had left on the floor. He landed, one foot in the blue, the other in the purple. "Oops..." He tiptoed across Honey's poster leaving a trail of blue and purple finch prints.
"How interesting," he thought.
Jamie had discovered art.
He returned to the watercolor tray. This time he stepped in orange and red, then he trotted across the white poster paper again.
"Say, that's even more interesting," Jamie remarked at the new orange and red scratches that blended in with his blue and purple art work.
Excitedly he went back and stepped into the yellow and the green. He tweeted merrily and looked at the entire watercolor tray. "Why not try them all!" he concluded.
So, Jamie wet his tail in the same teacup of water Honey had left her brush in. Then he rubbed it into each color --all 16 of them!
By the time he got to the poster his tail was dripping with color and very heavy. He rocked and rolled, waved and waddled, danced and dunked all over the WELCOME sign. Great fun.
Until Honey and Dad returned.
Jamie flew to his bath and tried to wash off the color. Honey might not like what he had done to her poster.
Honey and Dad started getting ready for her party as soon as they came into the apartment. They didn’t see the finch taking a special bath.
Honey noticed her newly decorated WELCOME poster while emptying a bag of pretzels into a bowl. "DAD!" she hollered. The pretzels fell to the floor.
"What?" Dad responded.
"Look at my poster!"
They knew who was responsible.
"JAMIE!"
Jamie sat on his perch innocently. He began singing. They went over to his cage.
"Jamie, did you ruin my poster?" Honey demanded.
Jamie closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
"Honey, Jamie wouldn't do that, would he?" Dad said while looking at Jamie. He knew Jamie was guilty. Dad waited to see how long Jamie could put up this innocent act.
Just then Jamie had an urge he could not control. Finches have a habit of shaking their tail whenever it is wet. It is a natural thing to do and Jamie couldn't prevent it. Jamie's tail shook rapidly. The watercolors Jamie thought he had washed off flew out like multi-colored rain. Much of the spray ended up on Dad's new white shirt.
"NO!" Dad said, and more words we can't write here.
The doorbell rang as Jamie dashed into his nest.
The doorbell sounded like the end of a round of a boxing match. Jamie had just won. Jamie had gone to his corner and was saved, for the moment. The party guests had arrived. Honey and Dad went to greet her friends.
"You won't believe what my finch just did," Honey explained. Jamie listened. She told them about Jamie's artwork. Everyone laughed. The nosey sensitive finch took this as an insult.
While Honey and her friends went on with her birthday celebration Jamie was getting more and more disturbed.
"Who invited all of these people into MY home?" Jamie questioned rudely.
He yelled out, "I'd like to take my nap now!". No one paid attention to him, but he continued, "I said, it's time for you to go!" They still ignored him.
These invaders don't understand finch language.
Jamie took to the air, flew at their faces, dove into their drinks, pooped on their shoulders. And just as he was going to plunge a deep hole into Honey's birthday cake, Dad caught him in the net. Jamie wasn't expecting that.
Jamie found himself stuck inside the bathroom for the rest of the party.
"How dare you!" Jamie complained, "You've no right to treat a famous finch this way! You've no right! You're fired! Do you hear me? You're no longer my servants!"
Jamie was quite upset. His servants had taken over HIS kingdom.
Honey and Dad were upset too.
One l o n g hour passed before Honey's guests finally went home. The moment the bathroom door opened Jamie was ready to fly straight to the top of his cage. He wasn't going to speak to them, especially Dad, ever again!
"Jamie, you ruined my poster, you treated my guests terribly, and you stained my dad's shirt," Honey scolded the finch.
"What should we do?" she asked Dad.
Dad winked at her and said, "Let's put him in the refrigerator. That'll cool him off." Then Dad turned to Jamie and said, “How’d you like that Mr. Big Shot Finch?"
They caught Jamie in the net and brought him to the freezer. Jamie squirmed. The net kept his mouth closed so he couldn't complain.
"Wait," Dad stopped and exclaimed, "Mr. Big Shot Finch thinks he's too cool already. Let's stick him in the oven instead. That'll warm him up!"
"Nice and crispy!" Honey added.
She opened the oven door. Jamie tried to wriggle free as Dad held him near the open door.
"Wait," Dad stopped once again, "Mr. Big Shot Finch needs a good shower first. Can't cook a dirty finch!" Dad moved to the sink and turned the faucet on full blast.
"Better make it boiling hot!" Honey said as the steam filled the sink. Jamie kept squirming. Dad finally loosened the net and let Jamie escape back to his cage.
Jamie went into his nest and ignored them again.
Honey and Dad laughed all the way to the couch. The more they discussed Jamie's behavior, the funnier it seemed. In fact, Jamie had been the life of the party. The kids got a kick out of how the little finch acted. As for the poster, Jamie's splashes of watercolor made the WELCOME poster look more like a work of art. Everyone at the party said so! And as for Dad's stained shirt, the watercolors washed out very easily.
Perhaps Jamie was something special.
Honey hung Jamie's artwork on the wall beside his cage. Dad signed it, MR. B. S. FINCH, ARTIST.
They gave him an extra millet stick as a prize.
Jamie decided to give them both another chance. They had made up for their cruel behavior. This was a good sign. Maybe they'll make good servants after all.
Chapter Four:
Jamie and the Sanctuary
Jamie the finch was bored.
As soon as his servants had gone out on their daily chores he decided to have a little fun.
Grabbing the millet stick with his beak he flew over to the nearby window. The window was cracked open a few inches, just enough for Jamie to wiggle the millet stick outside. It caught the attention of a passing robin. Good, thought Jamie.
When the hungry robin tried to peck at the delicious millet Jamie yanked it back inside the window. The robin jerked its head in frustration. What a joke! Jamie fell to the floor laughing.
Jamie repeated this teasing again with a blue jay, and then with the neighborhood pigeon. Each time the birds went to peck at the millet Jamie pulled it away and fell back to the carpet, giggling and still holding the seed stick firmly in his beak.
A rather large pelican had been flying high overhead and watched Jamie's not so funny game. When Jamie stuck the millet out a fourth time the Pelican was waiting. He swooped down so suddenly and grabbed the millet so hard that this time Jamie went flying out the open window in terror. He'd forgotten to let go of the millet.
The pelican flew high and swift with one end of the millet in its mouth. The terrified finch flapped frantically at the other end. Jamie wouldn't let go of HIS millet.
The huge bird soared over the rooftops of two city blocks then continued flapping high above the park trees at Lake Merrit. Jamie wanted to scream, but that would mean opening his beak and losing the millet. He decided to just moan a lot.
The pelican noticed Jamie's stubbornness. This finch needs a lesson. The pelican dropped the millet AND Jamie directly above the Sanctuary, a bird island off the Lake Merritt shore. The Sanctuary was a place where free birds could be by themselves and rule themselves.
Jamie and the millet tumbled through the swirling air. Jamie had a choice: he could either let go of his precious millet and start flying, or he could hang on to the millet and crash on to the strange island.
The pelican glided, waiting and watching this foolish falling finch make up his mind.
"I probably won't be able to enjoy my millet if I smash into the island," concluded Jamie. At the last second he let go of the millet and started flying. But it was too late.
Jamie hit the ground; luckily he landed in a nicely packed pile of grass and leaves. It was a nest. The pelican's nest.
The millet conked him on the head. Jamie tried to figure out where he had landed. "Now what?" he wondered. A giant shadow settled on the
nest. Jamie looked up in time to see the pelican land right on top of him. Jamie shoved his beak into the pelican's bottom. The pelican let out a yelp! A strange collection of birds flocked to the nest to see what was going on.
They stared at Jamie. A snowy egret looked at Jamie and said, "What a silly looking pelican!"
"I'm Mr. B. S. Finch, a very famous artist," shouted Jamie, "there's been some kind of mistake!"
The wild birds laughed. "What a silly sounding pelican!" said a blue heron.
Maybe they think I'm a pelican, Jamie thought, I'd better play along until I can think what to do.
Jamie the finch smiled and tried to cackle like a pelican. The wild birds laughed wildly.
The pelican spoke up again, "Well, he doesn't look like he'll make a very good pelican. That red beak is a scream!" The birds sniggled and giggled. They were having great fun, at Jamie's expense.
Jamie flapped his wings trying to act like a pelican. This produced more whoopter from the onlookers. Jamie had never seen such unpleasant birds before; he never wanted to see them again.
Some bird shouted, "Let's eat him!" All the flock agreed. Jamie didn't agree -- "Eat me? No way!" Jamie darted out of the nest and took off as fast as his
little wings could flutter. Sanctuary Island rocked with laughter. Jamie raced toward HIS apartment towering on the hill over- looking the lake.
"Maybe that little finch won't trick and tease others anymore," said the pelican wisely.
During the finch's frantic flight homeward he vowed that no one would ever sit on him again!
The return journey seemed to take forever but by the time Jamie reached his home he had had enough time to think things over. He knew this experience had taught him a valuable lesson.
Jamie had learned that the next time he wanted to trick and tease he would have to use a short millet stick, the kind that breaks off easily if anyone tries to tug on it.
He also learned that he would have to create his own Sanctuary to prevent any further embarrassments.
chapter excerpts from "B S Finch" ©2000 by John Kirkmire, ©2013 Kirkworkshop. All rights reserved
return to stories page
Chapter One:
The Right Finch
The birds scattered wildly as the hand reached into the pet store’s crowded cage. Perched alone in the middle of this frantic fluttering stood a single zebra finch. He didn’t move.
"That's the one, " Honey exclaimed.
The hand closed in on this fearless finch. A palm-sized, gray zebra finch, with orange circles on each cheek and a bright orange-red beak. He had a soft, white chest tucked beneath the gray wings. He had black and white striped tail feathers. That one.
He dared the hand to try to grab him.
And it did.
Actually, the finch was daydreaming and didn't know what happened.
Chapter Two:
Jamie and His Two Servants
The timid tiny finch tried to peep through the small air holes in the cardboard bird-box. The trip from the pet store was a completely new experience.
The young finch knew he was moving. He saw flashes of light and dark passing by the peepholes. Sometimes the box would tip from side to side, from one corner to another. Inside the box the finch slid back 'n forth. When this happened a soft voice said, “Sorry... "
"How much longer, Dad?" asked the sorry speaker.
"Honey, tell him we're almost there." said a distant, deeper voice.
Jamie figured out the deep voice was called Dad, the softer one, Honey. Dad and Honey. What were they doing?
"Jamie," a gush of warm air came into the box as Honey whispered closely, trying to calm the precious finch, "just a few more minutes -- wait 'til you see your new home!"
Jamie was the name they had selected for the finch. He had never been named before; only humans name things. It didn’t bother him, yet.
At last the car they were riding in stopped. Honey carried Jamie from the car to his 'new home'. The box rocked like a boat tossed around in a hurricane. Jamie spun inside, dazed, until he was finally released into a lovely pink-wired cage. It took the finch a few minutes to adjust to his new surroundings.
"Pink?" Jamie whined to himself.
"Dad, I don't think birds belong in boxes," Honey noted, "-- or cages."
"Neither do I," Dad agreed and put his arm around Honey. She was about eight years old with long, sandy blond hair. Dad was much older and darker (he hadn't shaved that day). Dad stood there in his favorite purple sweatshirt and looked like a grape ape to the finch.
"Can we leave the cage open?" she asked.
Dad paused for a moment. Honey was right, living things are not meant to be caged.
"Can we?" she asked again.
"We can prop the gate open," Dad reasoned, "and see what happens. Okay?"
"Okay," smiled Honey.
And so they opened the cage door. Jamie flew out. The free bird circled the room checking-out HIS new property. This seemed like a good deal for the finch.
A week later while Honey and Dad went out on errands Jamie flew down to the animal book that Honey had been using. She had been looking for information about finches.
Jamie landed on top of a finch photograph. He thought it was a picture of himself. How famous I AM, Jamie realized.
Jamie did an exciting dance with his wings and his toes. A few pages flipped over. The book was now opened to a small picture of an eagle.
Jamie looked at the eagle's picture and compared it to himself. He wasn't impressed.
Hey, I'M BIGGER than that, Jamie bragged.
Jamie rocked his black and white stripped tail and ran his bright beak along the edge of the page. The page turned over. Now a herd of elephants stared at him. Jamie had heard rumors of giant elephants but this was the first time that he had actually seen some. He wasn't impressed. His shadow covered the entire picture.
I'M GREATER than elephants, he thought proudly.
Jamie felt pretty good about himself thinking that he was greater than an eagle or a herd of elephants and famous enough to be in a book.
Suddenly Jamie heard keys rattling in the front door, a split second before it opened. Jamie whisked back to his cage. Honey and Dad had returned with more supplies. They both greeted the finch, "Hello, Jamie."
Jamie ignored them.
Dad fastened a new wicker nest inside the cage for Jamie. Jamie just sat on his perch not afraid of the giant-sized hands fumbling in the corner of his cage.
Actually, Jamie was distracted thinking about all he had seen. He's a FAMOUS finch, greater than an eagle and a herd of elephants and certainly deserving of special treatment...
So it's not surprising that this fine finch came to the conclusion that Honey and Dad were HIS servants. After all, they clean the place. They deliver fresh sprouts, fresh seeds, fresh water, and change his bath daily. He only has to finish his millet stick and it is replaced immediately. These humans are useful and faithful. Like good pets.
Jamie peered out at his new kingdom and sang a happy song, “I’m special, so very special...". Then he retired into the new nest for some privacy.
Early the next morning Jamie noticed that his seed dish hadn't been changed yet. This upset him. A famous finch deserved better treatment. Honey and Dad had been out late the night before and were still sleeping. So far, Honey and Dad had proven to be quite reliable but perhaps they needed a little extra training to keep them in line.
In the quiet, cool morning air Jamie squawked as loud as he could and, if that wasn't enough, he swooped down across their faces to wake them both and remind them to get going on their duties. "Get up!" he yelled.
It worked. Honey, half asleep, got up from her bed and filled his seed dish; Dad crawled out of his bed and changed Jamie's water and gave him fresh sprouts. They were too tired to realize that Jamie their fickle finch was ordering them around. They went back to their beds, grumbling to themselves. Jamie decided that he'd do this every morning from now on.
Jamie had become one spoiled finch, destined for trouble.
Chapter Three:
Jamie Discovers Art
It was Honey's birthday. Time for a party.
She had just finished making a WELCOME poster when she had to hurry off with Dad to pick up her cake at the bakery. Honey left the poster on the floor to dry.
Alone, Jamie thought he'd take the opportunity to inspect his kingdom; something today was different. His two servants had been acting weird, especially Honey.
"What's this?" he said as he flew down to examine the watercolor tray Honey had left on the floor. He landed, one foot in the blue, the other in the purple. "Oops..." He tiptoed across Honey's poster leaving a trail of blue and purple finch prints.
"How interesting," he thought.
Jamie had discovered art.
He returned to the watercolor tray. This time he stepped in orange and red, then he trotted across the white poster paper again.
"Say, that's even more interesting," Jamie remarked at the new orange and red scratches that blended in with his blue and purple art work.
Excitedly he went back and stepped into the yellow and the green. He tweeted merrily and looked at the entire watercolor tray. "Why not try them all!" he concluded.
So, Jamie wet his tail in the same teacup of water Honey had left her brush in. Then he rubbed it into each color --all 16 of them!
By the time he got to the poster his tail was dripping with color and very heavy. He rocked and rolled, waved and waddled, danced and dunked all over the WELCOME sign. Great fun.
Until Honey and Dad returned.
Jamie flew to his bath and tried to wash off the color. Honey might not like what he had done to her poster.
Honey and Dad started getting ready for her party as soon as they came into the apartment. They didn’t see the finch taking a special bath.
Honey noticed her newly decorated WELCOME poster while emptying a bag of pretzels into a bowl. "DAD!" she hollered. The pretzels fell to the floor.
"What?" Dad responded.
"Look at my poster!"
They knew who was responsible.
"JAMIE!"
Jamie sat on his perch innocently. He began singing. They went over to his cage.
"Jamie, did you ruin my poster?" Honey demanded.
Jamie closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
"Honey, Jamie wouldn't do that, would he?" Dad said while looking at Jamie. He knew Jamie was guilty. Dad waited to see how long Jamie could put up this innocent act.
Just then Jamie had an urge he could not control. Finches have a habit of shaking their tail whenever it is wet. It is a natural thing to do and Jamie couldn't prevent it. Jamie's tail shook rapidly. The watercolors Jamie thought he had washed off flew out like multi-colored rain. Much of the spray ended up on Dad's new white shirt.
"NO!" Dad said, and more words we can't write here.
The doorbell rang as Jamie dashed into his nest.
The doorbell sounded like the end of a round of a boxing match. Jamie had just won. Jamie had gone to his corner and was saved, for the moment. The party guests had arrived. Honey and Dad went to greet her friends.
"You won't believe what my finch just did," Honey explained. Jamie listened. She told them about Jamie's artwork. Everyone laughed. The nosey sensitive finch took this as an insult.
While Honey and her friends went on with her birthday celebration Jamie was getting more and more disturbed.
"Who invited all of these people into MY home?" Jamie questioned rudely.
He yelled out, "I'd like to take my nap now!". No one paid attention to him, but he continued, "I said, it's time for you to go!" They still ignored him.
These invaders don't understand finch language.
Jamie took to the air, flew at their faces, dove into their drinks, pooped on their shoulders. And just as he was going to plunge a deep hole into Honey's birthday cake, Dad caught him in the net. Jamie wasn't expecting that.
Jamie found himself stuck inside the bathroom for the rest of the party.
"How dare you!" Jamie complained, "You've no right to treat a famous finch this way! You've no right! You're fired! Do you hear me? You're no longer my servants!"
Jamie was quite upset. His servants had taken over HIS kingdom.
Honey and Dad were upset too.
One l o n g hour passed before Honey's guests finally went home. The moment the bathroom door opened Jamie was ready to fly straight to the top of his cage. He wasn't going to speak to them, especially Dad, ever again!
"Jamie, you ruined my poster, you treated my guests terribly, and you stained my dad's shirt," Honey scolded the finch.
"What should we do?" she asked Dad.
Dad winked at her and said, "Let's put him in the refrigerator. That'll cool him off." Then Dad turned to Jamie and said, “How’d you like that Mr. Big Shot Finch?"
They caught Jamie in the net and brought him to the freezer. Jamie squirmed. The net kept his mouth closed so he couldn't complain.
"Wait," Dad stopped and exclaimed, "Mr. Big Shot Finch thinks he's too cool already. Let's stick him in the oven instead. That'll warm him up!"
"Nice and crispy!" Honey added.
She opened the oven door. Jamie tried to wriggle free as Dad held him near the open door.
"Wait," Dad stopped once again, "Mr. Big Shot Finch needs a good shower first. Can't cook a dirty finch!" Dad moved to the sink and turned the faucet on full blast.
"Better make it boiling hot!" Honey said as the steam filled the sink. Jamie kept squirming. Dad finally loosened the net and let Jamie escape back to his cage.
Jamie went into his nest and ignored them again.
Honey and Dad laughed all the way to the couch. The more they discussed Jamie's behavior, the funnier it seemed. In fact, Jamie had been the life of the party. The kids got a kick out of how the little finch acted. As for the poster, Jamie's splashes of watercolor made the WELCOME poster look more like a work of art. Everyone at the party said so! And as for Dad's stained shirt, the watercolors washed out very easily.
Perhaps Jamie was something special.
Honey hung Jamie's artwork on the wall beside his cage. Dad signed it, MR. B. S. FINCH, ARTIST.
They gave him an extra millet stick as a prize.
Jamie decided to give them both another chance. They had made up for their cruel behavior. This was a good sign. Maybe they'll make good servants after all.
Chapter Four:
Jamie and the Sanctuary
Jamie the finch was bored.
As soon as his servants had gone out on their daily chores he decided to have a little fun.
Grabbing the millet stick with his beak he flew over to the nearby window. The window was cracked open a few inches, just enough for Jamie to wiggle the millet stick outside. It caught the attention of a passing robin. Good, thought Jamie.
When the hungry robin tried to peck at the delicious millet Jamie yanked it back inside the window. The robin jerked its head in frustration. What a joke! Jamie fell to the floor laughing.
Jamie repeated this teasing again with a blue jay, and then with the neighborhood pigeon. Each time the birds went to peck at the millet Jamie pulled it away and fell back to the carpet, giggling and still holding the seed stick firmly in his beak.
A rather large pelican had been flying high overhead and watched Jamie's not so funny game. When Jamie stuck the millet out a fourth time the Pelican was waiting. He swooped down so suddenly and grabbed the millet so hard that this time Jamie went flying out the open window in terror. He'd forgotten to let go of the millet.
The pelican flew high and swift with one end of the millet in its mouth. The terrified finch flapped frantically at the other end. Jamie wouldn't let go of HIS millet.
The huge bird soared over the rooftops of two city blocks then continued flapping high above the park trees at Lake Merrit. Jamie wanted to scream, but that would mean opening his beak and losing the millet. He decided to just moan a lot.
The pelican noticed Jamie's stubbornness. This finch needs a lesson. The pelican dropped the millet AND Jamie directly above the Sanctuary, a bird island off the Lake Merritt shore. The Sanctuary was a place where free birds could be by themselves and rule themselves.
Jamie and the millet tumbled through the swirling air. Jamie had a choice: he could either let go of his precious millet and start flying, or he could hang on to the millet and crash on to the strange island.
The pelican glided, waiting and watching this foolish falling finch make up his mind.
"I probably won't be able to enjoy my millet if I smash into the island," concluded Jamie. At the last second he let go of the millet and started flying. But it was too late.
Jamie hit the ground; luckily he landed in a nicely packed pile of grass and leaves. It was a nest. The pelican's nest.
The millet conked him on the head. Jamie tried to figure out where he had landed. "Now what?" he wondered. A giant shadow settled on the
nest. Jamie looked up in time to see the pelican land right on top of him. Jamie shoved his beak into the pelican's bottom. The pelican let out a yelp! A strange collection of birds flocked to the nest to see what was going on.
They stared at Jamie. A snowy egret looked at Jamie and said, "What a silly looking pelican!"
"I'm Mr. B. S. Finch, a very famous artist," shouted Jamie, "there's been some kind of mistake!"
The wild birds laughed. "What a silly sounding pelican!" said a blue heron.
Maybe they think I'm a pelican, Jamie thought, I'd better play along until I can think what to do.
Jamie the finch smiled and tried to cackle like a pelican. The wild birds laughed wildly.
The pelican spoke up again, "Well, he doesn't look like he'll make a very good pelican. That red beak is a scream!" The birds sniggled and giggled. They were having great fun, at Jamie's expense.
Jamie flapped his wings trying to act like a pelican. This produced more whoopter from the onlookers. Jamie had never seen such unpleasant birds before; he never wanted to see them again.
Some bird shouted, "Let's eat him!" All the flock agreed. Jamie didn't agree -- "Eat me? No way!" Jamie darted out of the nest and took off as fast as his
little wings could flutter. Sanctuary Island rocked with laughter. Jamie raced toward HIS apartment towering on the hill over- looking the lake.
"Maybe that little finch won't trick and tease others anymore," said the pelican wisely.
During the finch's frantic flight homeward he vowed that no one would ever sit on him again!
The return journey seemed to take forever but by the time Jamie reached his home he had had enough time to think things over. He knew this experience had taught him a valuable lesson.
Jamie had learned that the next time he wanted to trick and tease he would have to use a short millet stick, the kind that breaks off easily if anyone tries to tug on it.
He also learned that he would have to create his own Sanctuary to prevent any further embarrassments.
chapter excerpts from "B S Finch" ©2000 by John Kirkmire, ©2013 Kirkworkshop. All rights reserved
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