Lucky Part Four

    The following is part of a true story.

The next few days passed without much different a routine than the days before the bird entered out life. The only difference was Mom’s calls to Jean. She kept asking how our bird friend was. Jean happily responded that our bird was doing okay. Considering what had happened, the bird’s life was not assured. Sure it was doing fine at the moment, but really its survival was not guaranteed. After all it went through, with the injury, the cold, and the damaged wing, odds were somewhat against our little bird friend. But every day, the little one kept going. It was truly a fighter. Jean managed to get into contact with a Wildlife Rehabilitation Guy who was willing to take our little bird and try to get it back to health and able to fly again, but there were no guarantees that it could ever fly again, or even survive any longer. It was all touch and go. To say this was intense was an understatement. After Jean got the bird to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Guy, we called Jean regularly just to see how our little bird friend was doing. And fortunately, things were going great. The bird was making great progress. Things were looking good.

 

            Finally, on one day, Jean gave us a call, saying the Wildlife Rehabilitation Guy was on his way with our little bird friend. So Mom and I crossed the street to Jean and John’s house to wait for him to come with the bird. The wait was not long. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Guy arrived. He stepped out of the car and got the bird, who was in a large plastic container, of course with breathing holes. We then learned five facts about the bird. First off, it was a yellow speckled sparrow. Next that it was a female. I did not convey this in my narration, but prior to this, we thought it was a little guy. On top of that, it was mature. Considering its size and comfort in Mom’s hand, we figured it was a baby. Fourth was that it had a head injury, which really wasn’t surprising. Finally, we learned it was, in fact, still able to fly. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Guy had brought our bird here because this was her natural habitat, where she grew up and was comfortable, to release her where she belonged. And so, the honors to open up the container was given to Mom, considering she was the one who found her. And so, mom opened up the container. At first, the bird looked confused, like she didn’t know quite what to do. Then, she spread her wings and leapt out of the container. Then she started to flap her wings, and took to the sky. She first alighted in one of Jean’s bushes, then flew off on her own to continue her life in the wild as a free animal. We all clapped as we watched her fly off. Then we shared a few words, especially thanking the Wildlife Rehabilitation Guy, then we all went back to our homes. Although we never actually give her a name, I thought of the only name that would ever fit our little bird friend: Lucky!