An unexpected present

Never before has our Christmas tree made such weird noises. Although, to be honest, I started to doubt, that the chirping, that blared through my living room actually came from the tree.

Joanne was dead set on getting me a pet. It’s not her fault, that I’m allergic to most things furry, but for her, growing up on a farm, always surrounded by animals, my avoidance to them was hard for her to grasp. Ever since moving in, she tried talking me into getting a non-furry animal. Like a snake, a fish or a bird for that matter.

That’s how she ended up here today. With a weirdly shaped presend in her hand, standing awkwardly on my doormat. Of course, I invited her in, as you do with girlfriends and she happily set her present under the tree. It was Christmas Eve, after all.

“Aren’t you going to open your present?” She side-eyed the Chrismas tree, waiting for me to show any more reaction.

“Is it urgent? I thought to do that tomorrow morning, together with all the other ones,” I was mainly testing the waters, trying to find out, how she would react. Maybe I was all wrong and she was more responsible, that I anticipated her to be.

“I’m not sure, if that’s a good idea, maybe you should just take a little peek now? I really want to see your reaction.” She wasn’t. The sudden stress in her voice called her out on that.

“Okay, fine, I’ll take a look.” I tried not to roll my eyes, but my tone gave me away; sarcastic and annoyed.

Before I could walk over to the small pile of gifts, she stopped me.

“You know, I really love you right? And I just want the best for you.”

I couldn’t help but to raise my eyebrows in doubt, trying to look as suspiciously as possible. “What is it, you are trying to tell me?”

“Ah, nothing, just, so you know. I just thought you could use some company some time.” She flinched, then laughed uncomfortable.

In a matter of seconds, I was at the tree, grabeed the half-oval looking object and sat down on the floor. Upon moving it, the chirping grew louder, thus solidifying my suspicion.

I got confirmation when I finally tore open the wrapping. In the little cage, that got unfolded before my eyes was a little bird. I had no idea, what kind of bird, they are definitely not my kind of animal, though to be fair, none really is.

It was smaller than I suspected judging by how much noise it made and was making a lot of fuzz by flying around in a little circle.

“Don’t you like it? Oh no, you don’t, Mom was right, I shouldn’t have gotten you a bird, how stupid could I be to just get you a pet, that was really irresponsibel, oh no,” Joanne would have gotten on, about how stupid her desicion was, but I decided to stop her. Why bother now? The bird was in my posession and I was going to take that responsibility, whether I liked it or not.

“No, it’s fine. I’m happy, look”, I put a smile on my face to convince her, “I like birds, I really do-” a lie, but she didn’t have to know that, “you really don’t have to worry, I will take care of it.”

Her relief showed me, that my lie passed. Thank god. But I needed some time to reflect. How would I care for that little creature?

“I really have to get going though, I want to be in church a little earlier today, as I agreed on meeting Eileen there.”

She looked dissapointed, but went to the hallway and put on her coat. “Okay, alright then. Merry christmas. And I love you.” She gave me a kiss and was out of the door.

Finally, because I really had to figure out, what to do with my new roommate. It was surely going to keep me awake the whole night, if I’m not finding a way to make the chirping stop.

Luckily, after a little searching around, I found a few seeds in my cupboard. I put them into a bowl and in the cage. As well as some water to at least get it all the necessary things to survive, I hoped. Eventually, the noise grew stiller and then, finally, came to a halt.

After that it was time for me to leave and care about something else than that supid bird. I started to get angry at myself, why did I say, I liked it? Why was I not brave enough to just tell my lover, whom I know so well, that I am not very fond of birds?

I soon arrived at the church and found Eileen standing in front of it. She had her arms wrapped around her and a shawl was warming her shoulders. Only after seeing her, I realized, how cold it had become in the past hours. I couldn’t get that bird out of my mind, which made me unaware of my surroundings. That I had not yet been run over by a car was surprising.

As soon as I got closer, a smile arose on Eileens lips. “Hi, there you are. Merry christmas, how are you?”

I can’t say, I didn’t wait for that opportunity. “Hello, merry christmas to you too.” I hugged her. “I just got a bird for christmas and I really don’t know what to do with it to be honest.” I smiled awkwardly, as we started to walk though the big wooden front doors.

“Oh really? That’s too bad, I would have done a lot for a bird. I always wanted to have one, growing up. Did I tell you that? When I was younger, I always begged my parents to get me one.” I had never seen a more sincere smile on her face.

Those opportunities just keep arising for me today. “No way! What a coincidence. You wouldn’t be interested in the one, I have, right?”

I can’t lie, I felt a little bad, giving it away so fast, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to find a better home for the bird.

“I mean, I don’t know, if that would be a good idea, you know? With the kids and stuff, but it would for sure be worth a thought. Are you sure, you don’t want to keep it?” The excitement in her voice betrayed her fake reluctance.

I decided to make another try. “Please. I know, I don’t have the time to care for it. Besides, I really don’t know how to. And a bird for the kids is not going to be a problem, it seems great to have pets, gowing up. I always wanted a dog, but due to my allergies, I couldn’t even get near one. Don’t keep do the same thing to your kids, your parents did to you. Get them a pet. A bird to begin with.”

My little speech seemed to convice her.

“Okay fine. You are probably right. We can talk about it tomorrow. Right now, I just want to think about the midnight mass an not about getting another pet.”

In my mind, I was already celebrating the birds new home.