Hatching the Unexpected

 Lani stared carefully at the box of hatchimals on the shelf of the local toy store, wondering which toy egg she should pick out to bring home. Each egg contained a unique animal, which would hatch when prompted, and begin its life. 

“Lani, come on,” her older sister, Robin, groaned, “Just chose one, and let’s go! I have to study for my chemistry exam.” 

Lani frowned. She did not like being rushed, especially when the decision she was making was one as significant as this one. She sighed and glanced back at Robin, who was now scrolling mindlessly on her phone and tapping her foot impatiently. Lani looked back at the shelf and reached for a bright, pale blue egg. “Robin,” she said, “Do you like this color?” 

“Yes! It’s fine! It’s perfect!” Robin said hurriedly, grabbing the plastic egg from Lani before she could say another word, and rushing off to pay for it. 

The walk home was quiet, as Robin spent most of it talking on the phone to a voice that Lani did not recognize. Normally she would be upset at the lack of attention, but today that did not matter to her, as she had a more pressing matter on her hands. Small cracks were beginning to form on the pale blue egg she bought from the store, indicating that the hatchimal would soon hatch. 

“Robin!” Lani said urgently, poking her older sister. 

“One second,” Robin said to her phone-mate. “Yes?” 

“My hatchimal is hatching!” Lani practically shouted, “We have to get home quickly so it doesn’t hatch while we’re walking!” 

“Oh whoop-de-doo.” Robin responded, rolling her eyes, “Stop making a big deal out of it. It’s just a stupid toy.” She resumed walking, and just as Lani had predicted, at exactly the same speed as before. It felt like a million years had passed before Lani finally opened the front door to their house and burst in, holding her hatchimal with both hands. 

“Mom! Dad! Come quickly!” She yelled, in an attempt to get everyone’s attention, but Robin had already left to her room with her phone. 

“Coming!” Lani’s dad yelled from the next floor. 

Lani grabbed a paper towel from the kitchen, gently laying the pale blue egg on it. “You can hatch now,” Lani whispered quietly to it, careful not to harm it. 

“I’m here!” Lani’s dad announced, walked into the kitchen, his curly brown hair tangled and ruffled, his shirt unbuttoned, and his shoes off. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say another word, the egg erupted, sending small shards of blue flying everywhere.

“It hatched! It hatched!” Lani turned to her dad, her eyes full of excitement, only to see his face twisted into an expression of complete shock. “What’s wrong?” she asked bewildered. 

“That,” he said, his voice trembling slightly as he pointed to the newly hatched creature, “Is not a hatchimal.” 

Effectively, the pale, skin-colored creature that was crawling around the table, contained only by a paper towel, was not a hatchimal. In fact, it was far from it. Hatchimals were soft, fuzzy, and adorable from their moment of birth. This writhing creature was wrinkled, featherless, and not a pleasure to look at. It had a small beak and two blue-ish black eyes that looked more like bruises. Lani scrunched her face up in disgust. “Eww!” she exclaimed, “What is that?” 

Lani’s father took a step towards the creature and frowned, before opening his mouth and saying, “That, Lani, is a hatchling.” 

“A what?” Lani said, quizzically. 

Her dad sighed before saying, “A baby bird, Lani. Your hatchimal just hatched a living, baby bird.” 

Lani did not know whether to cry or laugh, whether to scream in anger or jump in exuberance. “Are you sure?” was all she was able to cough out. “It really doesn’t look like a bird!” 

Lani’s dad let out a deep laugh before explaining, “Baby birds aren’t born like the cute, furry ones you see in photos, Lani. They’re born completely and utterly helpless; like all babies! Their parents are supposed to raise them and help them become good birds, and make sure that…'' His voice trailed off as he looked down at his young daughter. 

“Make sure that what?” Lani pressed, looking at her father with eyes full of playful suspicion. 

“Make sure that they survive. That they aren’t eaten by any other animal, that they have enough food and water, and all that kind of stuff.” 

Lani took a moment to think this over before saying, “But Daddy… this bird doesn't have a mom or dad. Who’s going to make sure it’s not eaten by another animal, that it has enough food and water, and all that kind of stuff?” Lani thought for a minute before her eyes widened and she said, “Can I be its Mommy, Daddy? Can I make sure that it grows up to be a good bird?” 

At that moment, Lani’s mom walked into the room. “Richard, what’s going on in here?” she said, frowning at the mess that was her kitchen. 

“It appears that Lani’s hatchimal has hatched a living bird, Christina.” 

Minutes later, the entire family was seated around the dining room table. Christina was massaging her temples, Richard holding the hatchling carefully, Robin on her phone, and Lani listening, eyes-wide, to every word her father was saying. “Of course,” he said, “We could potentially keep the bird...” 

Christina sighed and looked up. “How are we meant to properly provide for it? Robin won’t get off her phone to help for a minute,” she said, dismissively gesturing at her daughter, who did not even take notice, “And Lani is five! She can’t take care of it on her own!” she said, exasperated. 

“Umm, has anyone forgotten that we have no idea how to take care of a baby bird anyway?” Robin chimed in, looking up from the screen that always hid her face, her bright blue eyes scanning the table, almost accusingly. 

“She has a point,” Richard sighed, looking at Lani. “None of us do know how to take care of a baby bird sweetheart, and it would be a lot of work.” 

“Why don’t you just give it to the animal shelter or something?” Robin said. “They’ll know what to do with it, won’t they?” she added. 

“No!” Lani interjected. “I want to take care of it! I will do a good job! I promise!” she widened her eyes and stared at each of her parents. 

“I don’t know…” Christina began, but she was abruptly cut off by Richard-

“I say let’s give it a try,” Richard said, throwing his hands up in capitulation,  “What’s the worst that could happen?” 

“We could accidentally kill the bird,” Robin offered.

“Not helping Robin,” Christina said, exasperated, turning back to Richard. “I’d be willing to keep it under one condition,” she added, “If one day, the bird goes without proper care, whether that be forgetting to feed it, forgetting to clean its cage, or forgetting to play with it, it goes straight to the animal shelter, am I clear?” 

“Yes, Mommy!” 

“Okay Christina, let’s give this a shot.” 

“Whatever.” 

And so the mayhem began. 

When Robin walked into the living room the following day, she was taken aback by how unrecognizable it was. The usually neat room, with red couches and holiday pillows, featuring old photographs of her and Lani as babies, was now a mess, heat lamps, feeding tubes, and makeshift nests lying all over the place. “God,” Robin huffed, “It seems like a tornado hit.” 

“Shhh!” Lani angrily looked up at her sister and gestured towards the “bed” in which the baby bird was sleeping. “Can’t you see it’s trying to sleep?” 

“In what, a plastic box with towels?” Robin scoffed.

Although unnecessary, Lani tended to spend hours a day with the bird, who still remained unnamed. See, caring for a hatchling, Lani had expertly deduced, was a lot more difficult than the videos made it out to be. They screamed, and when they screamed, it was loud. Lani wished she could say that caring for the bird was a fun experience which she relished, but it was not. In fact, it was likely the most difficult thing she had ever done. The bird needed constant feeding from a feeding tube, constant warmth from the heat lamps, and - 

“Lani! The stupid bird is crying again! Can you just feed it?” Robin yelled from the living room. 

“I have to ask mom and dad because I’m not allowed to feed it alone,” Lani informed her while muttering to herself, “Why can’t you just feed him yourself?!” 

The next few days were a blur, and exhaustion was beginning to settle in on the family. Lani was always up on her feet, informing her parents when the bird required something, her parents were always there for the bird’s every need, and Robin… well Robin would supply the family with their daily quota of sarcastic comments. After one week of caring for the bird, the family sat the same way they had one week ago around the table. Christina massaging her temples, Richard holding the hatchling carefully, Robin on her phone, and Lani eyes-wide, hanging on to every word her father uttered. “Look,” he began, sighing, “We know how much you love this bird, Lani, but it might not be right for us. We are so busy, Lani, with work and we still have to take care of our little birds, you and Robin!” Christina nodded at this.  

“We’re spending hours a day with the bird, Lani. I mean look at us, we’re exhausted!” Sure enough, dark circles were present on both Christina and Richard’s faces. 

“Yeah, honestly Lani, it’s not really worth it,” Robing added, “We should give it to an animal shelter - they’ll know how to take care of it better than us.” 

Lani stared at the little bird, who was fast asleep in his makeshift bed, unaware of all the uncertainty that surrounded him. “Okay.” was all she said. 

“Really?’ Richard said, surprised at his daughter’s cooperation. 

“Yep.” Lani smiled sadly, “If the animal shelter is really going to take good care of it then it’s probably better for it.” 

“Thank god,” Robin said, standing up with her phone in hand. 

“Are you ready to say goodbye and take it there now?” Christina asked her gently. 

“Yes.” Lani’s quiet voice was anything but weak. 

The ride to the animal shelter was a quiet one, as the entire family spent it staring at the bird. It seemed clueless, so carefree. It didn’t care that it was switching owners - changing its life. It just cared that it got proper care and attention, no matter who that care and attention came from. Lani sighed and stared out the window, longing for the ride to be over. Every second she had to spend in the car with the bird was just a reminder of how much she would miss it when it was gone. At last, they pulled up at the animal shelter. Wordlessly, Lani exited the car to meet her parents and Robin, who was holding the bird. Together, the four of them walked to the entrance, where they prepared to say goodbye forever. 

Roughly One Year Later

It was Lani’s seventh birthday. Cake, candles, presents, hugs, and laughter. All the usual. But once the guests from the party had finally cleared out, Lani looked up excitedly at her father. The moment she had been waiting for since she was five years old had finally come. The ride to the animal shelter was far from quiet, as Lani talked delightedly about what to name their new pet bird. “Coco might be a good name,” she offered. 

“How about cinnamon?” Robin asked, somewhat excited herself. 

“That one’s good!” Lani said happily nodding. 

“Girls, we’re here,” Richard said. 

The animal shelter looked just how Lani had remembered it. A small reception desk with a dog’s paw print engraved on it sat in the center of the entrance room. A young woman with bright blond hair and green eyes which were framed with dark, circular glasses sat at the desk, with a big smile on her face. “Hello and welcome to Friendship Animal Rescue,” she said, “How may I help you today?” 

“We’re looking to adopt a bird,” Robin said before anyone else could speak. 

“You’re in the right place!” she said cheerfully, “Just come over here with me. My name is Sussy by the way.” 

“Nice to meet you Sussy!” Lani said. 

They walked to a smaller room in the shelter, which’s walls were lined with cages, each cage filled with a different bird. It was the most bird’s Lani had ever seen in one room in her entire life. Each bird had a unique plumage, some of vibrant reds and yellows, others of light brown, black, and grey tones. 

“Lani! Look at this one,” Christina said eagerly gesturing at a beautiful bird with feathers of green and blue. 

Lani shook her head and walked straight over to the cage with the only bird that wasn’t flying, chirping and chittering. The bird was a soft brown color, with a speck of orange on its chest. 

“This one,” Sussy informed the family, “Is named Ari. He was dropped off by a family about a year ago - it was a really funny story actually! They said that he hatched from a hatchimal?” And while Sussy laughed, the family exchanged looks of disbelief and turned to watch the bird they thought they would never see again.