His name was Tommy,
and he was always on the lookout to
catch birds. Tommy’s
fur was matted, and he had old battle
scars on his nose. His
bright green eyes always glared.
Tommy looked scary!
He knew Freddy and
his friends liked to
fly
around the yard, and
Tommy would get
excited
because he wanted to
catch them. Freddy’s
parents had warned him
about the dangers of
being in that
backyard.
As it gradually turned
dark, cars continued
to drive along the
road.
Freddy noticed their pretty
white and red
lights. Sometimes lots
of lights appeared, and
other times there were
not that many.
All day long, humans
had come and gone. They had arrived
at the restaurant in
shiny cars and jumped out. Laughing
and talking, they had
run into the building. After a while,
they had come out with
arms full of colorful bags filled with
food—very yummy food!
Freddy had tried the food and found
it very tasty! He
smacked his yellow beak as he thought of the
delicious food.
During the past few
weeks, Freddy had met and interacted
with a few little
humans—children. He especially liked the
children. They had
given him lots of little yellow sticks—french
fries, the children
called them. The children had arrived with
their mothers and
fathers and sat outside to eat their food—
the
yummy french fries!
Today was
a very lazy day for Freddy. He had just met a few
humans,
and they had fed him a lot of french fries. Oh, they
are so yummy! thought Freddy as he fluttered his
wings and
smacked
his little yellow beak.
A few
minutes later, Freddy was lazily dozing off. Hmm, this
is so nice and quiet. His little black head nodded and he
was
soon fast
asleep in the warm, bright sunlight.
“Hey,
Freddy! Hey!” called out a small brown bird. “Hey,
come out
and play with us!”
“Huh?”
Freddy woke up with a start. “What… huh…what?”
“Freddy,
over here. It’s me, Alfie!” yelled the little brown bird
waving his
wings.
Alfie was
excited and could not sit still. He hopped on his
left leg,
then his right leg, then on the left, and then on the
right one again. His two little friends, Jeanie and Robby, were
waiting
for him in the nearest treetop where they lived with
their
parents.
“Jeanie,
Robby, and I are going to play. We’re all going to
play
together! We’re going to fly over the lake!” squawked Alfie
to no one
in particular. “I’m so excited. We’re going to catch
some
insects and spy on Tommy the tomcat. We’re even going
to fly
without flapping our wings. That is so dangerous! C’mon,
Freddy, c’mon.
It’ll be so much fun!”
Freddy
slowly stretched out his wings and yawned. “Nah, I
don’t feel
like it. I’m tired. I want to take a nap.”
Alfie
shrugged his little shoulders, turned around, and
yelled, “Robby! Jeanie! Let’s go. Let’s have some fun!”
Tommy, the Terrifying Tomcat
Alfie’s
two little friends took flight from the green treetop.
The breeze
stirred the dark green leaves causing a soft rustling
sound.
Side by side, the three little friends headed to the lake.
A few
ducks and swans glided through the water enjoying the
warmth and
quiet of an idle summer’s day.
“Whoo-hoo!”
yelled Jeanie as she swooped down to catch
minnows.
“Hey,
Jeanie, look at me! I’m floating through the air. I’m
not
flapping my wings!” shouted Robby.
Giggling,
Jeanie swooped down to catch up with him.
“Oh,
Robby, you are such a show-off!” squealed Jeanie as
she
flapped her wings
“Hey, guys,” called Alfie. “Look. Tommy, the
tomcat is
sleeping!
Let’s go drink from his water bowl. It’ll be a really
exciting
game!”
“Alfie,
you know that’s dangerous!” gasped Jeanie.
“That
sounds like so much fun!” chuckled Robby.
“Oh
Jeanie, it’ll be fun! Let’s go!” twittered Alfie.
Off the
three friends went. Squawking and squealing while
pretending
to be dive-bombers, they headed directly towards
the
overgrown backyard where Tommy was lounging in a
patch of
sunlight.
Hiding in
the thorn bushes, the three friends waited. The
breeze
rustled the leaves, and the little sparrows swayed
on a
branch, waiting for just the right
moment.
They were so excited, they
This
was a very dangerous
adventure and
their eyes shone
brightly with anticipation.
Tommy
stretched and rolled onto his
back. His
front paws were spread out
above his
head. His head was rolled to
one side
and he had a peaceful grin on
his ragged
face. Once in a while he licked
his lips,
and the little sparrows could
see that
there were only a few teeth left
in his
mouth.
One by
one, the little friends flew to the cracked ceramic
bowl that
stood next to an old, rusty garbage can. Alfie stood
on the
edge of the bowl and took a sip of water. Jeanie gasped.
Alfie was
so brave!
Next,
Jeanie quietly swooped down and landed on the
garbage
can. She hopped to the edge and jumped toward the
water bowl. She was just about to take a sip when Robby
loudly
crash-landed on top of the garbage can. The sound
echoed
through the quiet afternoon and woke up Tommy.
In one
smooth move, Tommy jumped up and looked around.
In an
instant he saw the little sparrows and pounced towards
them. His
claws were facing the birds, and they glistened in
the
sunlight. They looked very big and sharp.
His bright
greeneyes were mesmerizing as he glared at the little birds.
Alfie
jumped up, flapped his wings, and off he went into
the
bushes. Jeanie quickly fluttered over to the nearest tree.
But poor
Robby looked around, dazed after his topsy-turvy
landing.
Tommy saw
Robby and quietly crouched down, getting
ready to
pounce. Just then, Alfie and Jeanie fluttered around
Tommy.
They needed to give Robby time to escape.
Tommy
jumped up on his hind legs and swatted at them
with his
long front paws.
Robby got
up and flew to safety, as Jeanie and Alfie followed
close
behind. Tommy didn’t give up, though. He continued
jumping and
swatting while following them. Tommy began
hissing
and meowing, which made him look quite scary.
The birds
finally reached the fence and landed on the other
side.
Their feathers were ruffled, and their little hearts were
pounding
inside their chests.
They were
panting so hard that their tiny chests were heaving, and t
hey couldn’t catch
their breath.
Their yellow beaks opened widely to get more air.
With a
panicked look on each of their tiny faces, the three friends
huddled
together.
Tommy’s
face was pushed against the fence.
“Next time
I will get you!” hissed Tommy. “How dare you
drink my
water! That’s my water. Get your own!” Tommy then
turned
around, walked away, and went to lie down at his
favorite
spot in the sun.
“Phew!
That was close,” panted Alfie.
“He was so
mean!” chirped Jeanie.
“Let’s do
it again!” chimed Robby.
Alfie had
lost interest. “Nah, I think we should go see
Freddy.”
Chapter 3
The Delicious French Fries
Freddy had
just woken up from his nap. After stretching,
yawning,
and looking about, he saw his three friends being
chased by
Tommy, the tomcat who lived in the garden.
“Oh no!”
called out Freddy as he anxiously watched Tommy
chasing
his friends.
When his
friends finally reached the other side of the fence, Freddy
relaxed.
I’m hungry again, and thirsty, too, thought
Freddy. With a
sigh, he
struggled out of his nest made of Styrofoam, twigs,
and paper.
He waddled through the gravel and tar to the edge
of the
roof. Freddy then carefully peered over the edge to see
if any of
the children had left those wonderful yellow sticks—
french
fries. He also loved that yummy brown water they
called pop.
While
Freddy was peaking over the edge of the roof, he did
not notice
that his three friends were sneaking up behind
him. Step
by step, they quietly crept closer and closer until
suddenly…
“Boo!”
they yelled out in chorus.
With a
yelp, Freddy jumped and nearly fell off the roof. He
flapped
his wings vigorously, so he would not topple to the
ground
below.
He turned
to his friends. With a frown on his face, he yelled,
“Hey, that’s
not nice!”
Alfie
chuckled. He admitted he had been wrong to frighten
Freddy. “Well,
okay. What were you doing, anyway?”
“I was looking to see
if the
children were
down there
eating some
food,”
said Freddy.
“What kind
of
food?”
Jeanie asked
curiously.
“Real
yummy food,”
replied
Freddy.
“Is it
dangerous to
get that
food?” asked
Robby.
humans
really like us.
They give
us food, and
they laugh
and say we’re cute.”
“Really?”
chirped Alfie. “This sounds interesting.”
“Let’s go
check out those humans,” squealed Jeanie.
Freddy
pointed out some brightly dressed boys and girls
who sat at
the tables laughing and talking while sipping on
delicious
pop and munching on long, crispy french fries.
“Oh, look.
I see some children now,” said Freddy.
Robby was
growing impatient. “Well, let’s go!” he called.
“Oh, what
is that red stuff?” cried Jeanie. “That looks awful.”
She puffed
out her feathers to show her disgust.
Freddy
laughed. “Ha, ha.. “That’s really tasty! The children
call it
ketchup.”
Jeanie
giggled. “Ketchup, that’s a funny word.”
Robby had
already flown over to the tables, boldly landing
right in
the middle of the table where the children were eating.
One of the
boys, dressed in blue shorts and a T-shirt, pushed
back a
shock of dark brown hair. With his brown eyes wide
with
curiosity and interest, the young boy leaned forward to
look at
Robby.. Robby ruffled his feathers and bravely stared
back. He
tried to look like a big, mean bird!
Robby was
a bit scared but tried to be courageous. Far
away, from
the rooftop, the children looked small, but this
close,
they were really big!
Slowly,
the boy picked up a French fry and held it up to
Robby. The
French fry shimmered in the bright sunlight as a
drop of
fat dripped to the table. Timidly, Robby leaned forward
and
stretched his neck to reach the French fry. Cautiously he
took a
nibble and swiftly flew off, to the safety of the rooftop.
“Wow, this
is good!” yelled Robby as he smacked his small
beak. “This
is sooooo yummy!”
Knowingly,
Freddy nodded. “Yup, I know. They are very
good, huh?”
“I want more! More!”
squealed Robby as he flew away.
Robby was so excited
about the french fries that he did
not watch where he was
flying. He swooped down towards
the table and started
to land. Poor Robby did not see he was
going too fast, and he
landed on the table with a big thump.
His little wings
spread out like an eagle.
He skidded across the
greasy tabletop and ended up
headfirst in a blob of
ketchup. His head was covered with
ketchup. Shocked, he
tried to shake off the red sauce, but it
was too sticky. One at
a time, he opened his eyes and peered
through the ketchup to
see where the other french fries were.
The children had
stopped talking and were staring at the
little bird covered
with ketchup. A little girl with bright red
curls, blue eyes, and
freckles burst out laughing.
She pointed at Robby. “Look,
look! What a funny bird!”
Poor Robby! He just
wanted another French fry. He shook
himself, and without
looking at the children, he walked over
to a paper plate where
the french fries were spread out. Robby
picked one up in his
beak and quickly flew away to enjoy his
meal.
