Budgie on the Lam
Polly the budgie stuck her head out of the open cage door and looked around. Where was her owner? She was bored, and wanted to play, so she leapt out of the cage and flew across the room to look out of the clear barrier. There were often other birds in the garden, and she liked watching them. The barrier wasn’t there today. A breeze was blowing through the open hole. She flew away into the sunny sky, enjoying the feeling of flight.
The wind gusted, and she nearly flipped over. She righted herself and flew in to land on a hard gray surface. It was hot and not very interesting, but then a huge shiny object came hurtling toward her at high speed. She took off and the object missed her by inches, the air turbulence sending her tumbling again.
This time she landed in a large bush. She sat there for a few minutes not knowing what to do. She was thirsty and had lost all desire for adventure. But where was her cage? Or her owner? Or anything else she recognized? She was lost. Completely and thoroughly lost.
She was also thirsty. Where could she find water? There wasn’t any visible, nor could she hear the sound of water running. Perhaps a higher vantage point would give her a better view. She flew to the top of a tall tree in the next garden and looked around. She spotted a dish of it on a raised pillar. Small birds were going to and fro.
She flew down to the water dish, the smaller birds scattering on her arrival. She drank. The water wasn’t as clean as at home, but it would do. One of the bolder birds flew back to the water dish and perched on the opposite side. It turned to study her with one eye and then the other before deciding that she was harmless and taking a drink itself.
There were birds on the grass, and they were blue just like her, even if they were much darker and had a crest. She flew down and landed beside them on the grass. They flew away into a bush while screaming alarm calls at her. She sulked. No one wanted to be near her. And in a world of strange dangers like this being part of a flock would make her feel a lot safer. She wandered around on the grass for awhile. It felt odd, being slightly damp against her tummy as she walked.
A strange furred creature came out of the nearby house through a flap in the door. It looked at her with great slitted golden eyes. She looked back. The strange birds gave their alarm call again, and every bird on the ground except her flew up into bushes or onto fences or trees. She looked at the strange animal. It looked back, and lowered itself towards the ground before moving slowly towards her.
The strange birds screamed again, but still she stayed there watching the creature come. The situation began to scare her. The animal just kept getting closer and closer, never taking its eyes off her. She jumped into the air and flew back to the water on the pedestal.
The animal left its crouch and began walking towards the watery pedestal. She didn’t like that at all, and took off for a nearby tree. She was glad when she got there. All this unaccustomed flying was making her wings ache and she felt horribly tired. Hungry, too. Yet there was no food in sight. Why oh why had she left her home?
She spent most of the rest of the afternoon in that tree. The sun began to get low in the sky and the shadows lengthened across the ground. It was a lot cooler now than it had been earlier.
Finally she heard a familiar voice and spotted her owner waving at her from the ground outside the garden in which she perched. Without the slightest hesitation, she flew to her owner, who was waving her hands in the air and yelling vigorously. The human only calmed down when Polly started flying around her head looking for a place to perch. She landed on her owner’s shoulder, whereupon her owner grabbed her gently with both hands and spoke to her, saying “Polly, you stupid Budgie, I nearly lost you. Don’t do that to me again you silly bird!”
Together, they went home, where Polly was happy to find her cage door open and food and water waiting.
Author’s note: Domesticated animals usually don’t have the skills needed to survive on their own. This story has a happier ending than most pet birds that get lost have.