The Bird That Got Away

The timer above the oven dinged, signaling that the Stouffers' pasta meal inside was ready. A young woman with brilliant red hair that was wrapped in a bun, and light blue eyes, ran over to the oven, slipped some oven mitts on, and pulled the door down to pull out the steaming goodness. 

And just as she set the steaming carton on top of the stove, the doorbell rang. 

She then removed her mitts, turned the oven off, and smoothed herself over as she came over to the door and opened it. There, standing on her porch was her loving boyfriend, Sam. He was always such a sight to look at, with his strong cheekbones and his piercing green eyes. His tousled brown hair was a nice touch as well, along with that heart-stopping smile she loved so much. 

"Hi Gwen," he smiled.

"Hey, come in. Whatcha got there?" She asked, nodding to the covered cage in his hand. 

"Oh, it's a bird." He chuckled, as he came inside. 

"Oh really? How cool." She replied, catching a smile. "Are you hungry? I made dinner."

"That sounds amazing, but unfortunately, I can't stay long. I have a flight to catch soon cuz my mom wants me home for Christmas." Sam explained.

Gwen's face visibly dimmed, but she quickly masked it, forcing a smile. "Oh, well, that's okay! I understand. So why'd you bring the bird with you?"

Sam winced, "that's the thing, I don't have anyone to watch him for me while I'm gone, soo I was hoping you would?"

Gwen's eyes widened momentarily, but then she furrowed her brows and nodded. "Yeah, I don't mind. It's no problem," she replied, making a grin break out on her boyfriend's face. 

"Oh thank you so much, baby! You really are helping me out of a bind here, you have no idea." Sam sighed with relief, as he handed the covered cage over for Gwen to take from him. 

What am I doing? I have no experience with birds, but I don't want to disappoint him. Gwen thought with slight panic. Nevertheless, she kept the smile pinned to her face as she received the covered cage from him, and took the cage over to set on the counter. 

"Is he friendly?" She asks.

"He's a bit timid with strangers, but once he gets used to you, he's a sweet one. His name is Mango by the way," Sam explains, getting a nod from her in return. Sam then gestured behind him, "I'm so sorry, baby, but I really have to go. If I don't, I may miss my flight, and then I'd be in trouble." He chuckled.

Gwen nodded to him, "it's fine, go. I don't want your mother getting mad at you."

"You sure?"

"Yes, now go." She confirmed.  

He flashed a smile at her, "thank you, doll, you're really the best." He then gave her a hug as he planted a kiss on her head, before breaking away from her and heading back out the door. 

She followed after him, calling from the doorway. "Have a safe flight! Tell your mom I said hi!" She calls.

He turns to her and waves, before getting in his dazzling BMW and taking off out of sight. Once she saw his car depart, she slowly closed the door and leaned against it as she let out a troubled sigh, holding a hand to her head.

Great. Just great. I try to make a nice evening for the two of us, and instead, I get stuck with his bird and without him. Well, more pasta for me, I guess. 

A chirp from under the covered cage disrupted her thoughts, bringing her attention over to it. She then comes over and removes the cloth from the cage, revealing a tropical-colored Parakeet. "Oh, how cute," she cooed, as the bird cocked its yellow head at her in curiosity. 

"Hi there," she cooed at the bird, as she opened the cage to gently stroke the bird. Mango saw her fingers reaching for him, and chirped in alarm, shrinking back from her reach. "Oh no, it's okay, it's okay. Don't be afraid, I'm a friend." Tentatively, she reached out again, but with one finger this time.

And the bird did not move again, allowing her to gently stroke the side of his head. At first, Mango froze and cowered a little under her touch, but as she stroked his head more, he began to visibly relax, closing his eyes and enjoying her affection. 

Once Gwen was sure he had deemed her a friend, she then carefully wrapped her fingers around his frame and brought him out from the cage. Only for him to bite her thumb, causing her to yelp and drop him as a reflex reaction. He then went flying under the oven, and she gasped in panic.

"No! No, no, no, no!" She rambled aloud as she went after him. 

She got down on the floor and did her best to peer under the oven and into the darkness below it, but could not even see a smidge of yellow or green feathers. "Mango! Mango, please come out," she begged in a desperate tone. She could hear him chirping under there, but couldn't really see him. 

Okay, maybe I should just give him his space.

So then she waited at the island table in her kitchen, sitting on a tool. Eventually, Mango peeked his small, yellow head out, unable to see Gwen from where he was, so he came out from under the oven, now covered in dust bunnies and soot.

She watched him hop further out across the kitchen tiles, before flying on top of one of the counters. She then got off her stool and slowly approached him, making sure to sound gentle. 

"Hi Mango," she cooed, and the bird looked at her, chirping once in response, but made no effort to fly away. Taking a deep breath within, she reached a hand out again, even slower than before. As her finger made contact with his feathers, he shrouded under her touch, afraid again.

She began to stroke his head just like before, and slowly but surely, he began to relax under her affection again. "Oh Mango, you're all dirty now. Why did you go and do that?" She sighed as she kept stroking him. 

Grabbing her phone from the counter, she quickly looked up the basics of bird care, particularly with bathing them, and inhaled another deep breath. She then got a tiny bowl out, meant for sauces, and filled it with water from the faucet, but just enough to dip him in.

Now wanting to try a different approach, she held out her hand to him and made a little kissing sound as a way to try and entice him, not entirely sure he'll get her meaning. After some moments, he finally understood what her intentions were, and simply hopped onto her hand, making her smile. 

"There's a good boy," she cooed gently, stroking the side of his face again. 

Then she held him before the small bowl of water, and as if he knew what that meant, he hopped from her hand and into the bowl, creating a small splash from his impact. He began chirping happily, flapping his wings, which also flinged more water out from the bowel, which made her shrink back, yelping, only to laugh a little afterwards. 

She then took a dab of Dawn soap and gently stroked it along his wingspan, while making sure to scrub a little. She carefully applied soap to every area of his body that needed it, and once that was done, she began dripping bits of water over his wings to get the soap off his feathers. 

And once she finished bathing him entirely, she wrapped him in an old dish towel and put him in the cage to rest while he dried off. 

Now with Mango back safely in his cage, she dropped down on the couch in the living room. Exhausation had hit her like a truck, enough for her to forget about the waiting, steaming meal still on the stove. And soon after that, she succumbed to her exhausation after only intending to just rest her eyes for a few minutes. 

But then those few minutes turned into a half hour, and luckily, her own body awoke her with a startle.

Oh dammit, I fell asleep.

Rubbing any sleep out of her eyes, she then rose from the couch and into the kitchen to check on the bird. When she found the bird, he was still lying down on the floor where she put him to rest. 

Concern picked at her, enough for her to open the cage door and gently retrieve him into her hands. The moment she unwrapped the towel from him so she could really check on him, she nearly froze.

The bird felt stiff but yet also limp in her hands, and wasn't making any motions of breathing. 

She then sank to her knees with the bird cupped in her hands. "Mango?..." She croaked, feeling a lump form in her throat at the possibility of what she's thinking. 

She tried stroking the side of his head again, trying to get any kind of reaction out of him. Only for him to still be limp and unresponsive in her hands. 

No.... please, please no.

She set him down on the towel she wrapped him in earlier, and flew a hand to her mouth as the lump in her throat became overwhelming and her eyes began stinging with the promise of tears. 

She shook her head rapidly, the tears now running down her face rapidly. "No, no, please! You can't be dead. You can't be! My boyfriend trusted me with you, you can't do this to me! Please don't do this to me..." Her voice then cracked, as did she, and then she covered her face in her hands as she began wailing. 

She took Mango's limp body in her hands and held the bird to her, as she sobbed endlessly, feeling a heavy ache upon her heart. After getting past the main shock of what just happened, she gathered herself enough to ring up her boyfriend's contact, who answered on the second ring.

"Hey baby, everything okay?" Sam asked.

"No..." she managed to get out.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice now gentle.

"I failed you, Sam. I'm so, so sorry. You entrusted me with the care of your bird, and he died. I'm so, so sorry. I feel awful, maybe even beyond awful."

"Mango's gone?" Sam asked, his voice drifting off.

"Yes, and I'm really, really sorry. I feel so terrible and responsible." She sobbed.

"How'd this happen?" He asked.

"I don't know, all I did was take him out for a bit, but then he got away from me. So then I had to clean him, and after that, I put him in the cage to dry off safely, but then I ended up dosing off, and when I awoke, he wasn't breathing anymore. If you wanna hate me or dump me over this, you have every right." At this point, Gwen's voice became high-pitched from how heavily she was crying. 

"Baby... it's okay, alright? His passing isn't your fault. He was an old bird anyway, so I know he didn't have long. I just didn't think it'd be this soon. So please don't blame yourself, okay? I'm sure you took care of him to the best of your ability." Sam assured her.

"Are you sure?" She croaked.

"Yes, I'm sure. And by the way, I haven't even made it to the airport yet, so I'm canceling my fight. My mom will understand the situation, don't worry. You're more important right now."

"Okay, then. How long till you can get here?"

"I'm already here," he replied, and soon after, the doorbell went off again.

She wrapped the bird in the towel like it was a cocoon, and then ran over to the door, throwing it open. When she saw her boyfriend standing there, and when he saw her in the state she was in, they simultaneously threw their arms around each other.

In his arms, she broke down even further, as if it were possible, and he hugged her to him as he stroked her hair. "Sam, please forgive me. I'm so, so sorry!"

He kissed her head before replying, "it's okay, doll. Don't worry, okay? It's not your fault."

"I still feel so bad," she cried.

"Shh, don't blame yourself. You did everything you could." He then removed himself from her, and stopped in the archway to the kitchen, seeing a bundled up dish towel on the island counter. 

He then pushed himself forward, inhaled deeply within, and took the bundled towel with Mango's body inside. He looked at Gwen as he came out of the kitchen, who had a hand over her mouth, with tears spilling over her fingers. 

Despite the ache he felt in his chest, he managed a reassuring smile. "It's okay, don't worry."

Then, without saying goodbye, he headed out the front door and closed it behind him.