A nest to call home

Mrs. Sparrow who happens to be a sparrow lives a comfortable life in an oak tree. Her husband Mr. Sparrow died after being eaten by a cat. For a cat is a bird's worst enemy. It would not be so if they were kind. But no, a cat just goes about killing innocent birds whenever they like. The life of a bird is quite hard. One might look at her life and think she's got it easy but she doesn't. She's got three eggs in her little nest. She has to sit on them every day and find time to go out and get food without being killed. It was Mr. Sparrow who picked to live in an oak tree on a farm. Mrs. Sparrow was on her own to take care of her three eggs. If only she could find an egg sitter so she could go out and find food. Ah yes, that is a splendid idea. She was not sure how she would find an egg sitter but she decided one morning she would go out and look.

Mrs. Sparrow did not have long before she had to go back to her nest. She happened upon a blue Jay pushing a bird off the bird feeder. "Hello there." Mrs. Sparrow said. "What do you want?" The blue Jay squawked. "Well, I am looking for someone to egg sit for me while I go out for food in the evening." Mrs. Sparrow answered nicely. The blue Jay who looked like he was not listening looked up at her with a mouthful of feed "Bug off." He said rudely. Mrs. Sparrow flew away and landed close by in a grassy field. "Hello." A snake hissed. "Hello." Mrs. Sparrow said nervously. "I hear you need an egg sitter. I would love to watch them for you." The snake said. "Just tell me what tree you live in." The snake continued. "No thank you." Mrs. Sparrow answers. She quickly flew away because every soon-to-be mom knows to never trust a snake. Mrs. Sparrow decided she had been away from her nest for too long. So she flew back to the oak tree and sat down on her eggs. She saw a bug crawling by on the bark of the tree and she thought about eating him. He saw her and began shivering "Please don't eat me!" He pleaded. "Very well." Mrs. Sparrow replied. He quickly walked off and Mrs. Sparrow continued sitting on her nest. Every evening she would swoop down below the tree looking for worms. One day she landed in the grass and began looking for a worm. She did not notice the cat that was sneaking up on her. She continued walking around looking for a worm and still did not notice that the cat was getting closer.

Suddenly the cat pounced at Mrs. Sparrow and pinned her to the ground with his paws. "Please!" She begged. "Please don't eat me!"

"Why should I spare your life?" The cat hissed. "Because if I don't get back to my nest my baby's will die." Mrs. Sparrow replied. "Should I spare your life for that? Is that your noble cause?" The cat asked. Mrs. Sparrow looked at the cat, "Mr. Sparrow was killed by a cat, my babies are all I have left." Mrs. Sparrow answered. The cat growled and Mrs. Sparrow got very scared and pecked the cat's nose. His paws quickly flew off Mrs. Sparrow and she stood to her feet. "Ow! My nose." The cat hissed while holding his nose. Her wing was hurt and she was not sure if she could fly. She stood helplessly as the cat rubbed his nose. "That wasn't very nice. I was just playing with you." The cat said. "How was I suppose to know?" Mrs. Sparrow asked. "You weren’t, not all cats are bad. But I guess I shouldn't have pounced on you like that." The cat replied. "Now my wing is hurt." Mrs. Sparrow said holding out her wing. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." The cat said. Mrs. Sparrow noticed that the cat did not look to be fully grown. "Are you a kitten?" Mrs. Sparrow asked. The cat sat down in the grass, "Uh-huh, well kind of. Today is my first day outside." He answered. Mrs. Sparrow was still scared but being the kind sparrow she was she decided to be nice to the cat. He was just a baby after all.

 "How good are you at climbing?" Mrs. Sparrow asked. His eyes grew wide "I am great at it!" He said now purring. "Can you take me back to my nest?" Mrs. Sparrow asked. She didn't know how she was going to hold not but she jumped on him anyway. He started climbing up the side of the tree and Mrs. Sparrow began sliding. Then without warning, she fell off the cat and glided down, and landed in the grass. The cat jumped down off the tree and stood in front of Mrs. Sparrow. "What happened?" He asked. "I fell. I don't know how to get back up there." Mrs. Sparrow said. "I could put you in my mouth." The cat suggested. "No!" Mrs. Sparrow shouted, "that's impossible! You will eat me!" She continued. "No, I won't! You will just be laying in my mouth." The cat said. Mrs. Sparrow did not want to climb in a cat's mouth but what other choice did she have? The cat picked up Mrs. Sparrow in his mouth so she was sideways. "Don't bite down." She said. The cat began climbing up the side of the tree. Mrs. Sparrow was very nervous. Finally, they got to the branch where Mrs. Sparrow's nest was. And the cat set her down on the branch. "Thank you!" She said. "You're welcome." The cat said. Then a person walked outside and the cat said "I have to go." As he climbed back down the tree. Mrs. Sparrow sat on her nest for several weeks, day after day, waiting for her eggs to hatch. Have you ever wondered if a bird can get bored? Mrs. Sparrow was very bored doing the same thing every day.

Finally, one day while she was sitting on her nest she felt something and heard a cracking noise. She quickly stood up and saw her three eggs hatching. They hatched and she was so excited to see her three babies, two boys, and a girl. That night he sat on her nest with her babies huddled around her. And suddenly sitting on her nest felt different. It had new meaning, finally, she had a family again. Sitting on her nest with her babies was now more important.