Rio: Love at first Fight

A New Life

Immediately, the smugglers came, only looking to make some cash and call it a day. They sold their loot to the highest bidder. All the birds, including the young blue macaw, were shipped off to the States.

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Ice and snow were everywhere. For a town in the northern U.S., that wasn't an unusual sight. A truck came passing through town; a cargo truck belonging to a pet store, Tropical Birds. The driver was jamming to his favorite song, paying no mind to the icy roads, or to the fact that his back door was loosely latched.

The light he was approaching was red; but, of course, he didn't notice until he was right upon it. When he finally did see it, he panicked and turned his wheel hard left as he braked. The back door came flying open while he rounded the corner to face a second light that, indeed, had also just turned red.

Sitting on the curb was a lonely wooden box, one that had flown out of the truck when it rounded the corner. What was inside? A little scared blue macaw, huddled in a corner, trying to stay warm in that freezing weather.

What was that? A knocking at the wood? The edge of a crowbar appeared and pried the box open. A young girl, age 9 or so, poked her head over the edge. "Ohhh," she adored. She reached for the little one, but he tucked himself into the corner trying to stay away. She grabbed him anyway.

"Shhhh," the girl comforted. "It's ok. I'll take good care of you."

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(15 years later)

The alarm clock hit 7, sounding an alarm that would wake the whole apartment up. An arm came swinging over from under thr blanket, trying to hit the snooze button. No success. She pressed every button, but that thing wouldn't shut up. "Stupid clock," she complained drowsily. Only one thing was left to do: unplug it, and she did.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep," came another alarm from above her head. Then a car alarm sound caught her attention. She looked up and saw Blu. "Good morning, Blu." She reached up and pet him as he dropped her glasses onto her face. So began their morning routine.

Both of them washed their mouths out, only Blu swallowed his paste rather than spit it out. "Ew..." Linda said.

"Tyler Blu Gunderson," she later complained, trying to give him medicine. "You know these vitamins are good for you." He continued to dodge the spoon.

"Oooh, what's this?" Linda picked up a box of cereal, getting him to gawk at it and let her feed the vitamins. He didn't like the flavors.

Time to open the bookstore. He followed Linda across the room to the stairs, riding a police car. As he jumped onto the railing, his police car landed in a parking spot perfectly along the wall. He slid the complete length of the rail, all the way onto Linda's arm at the end of it. Blu typed in the password for the computer, opened the curtains by hanging on the cable, and flipped the sign to open. Now they were ready for a new day, or so they thought.