A Starling's Awakening

Another Holiday

We celebrated Easter at Robert and Helen's. Josh asked for Bret's advice.

"How do I get the starlings at school to leave me alone?"

"Have you tried ignoring them?"

"For the most part. There is this one, Amanda Talmage. I mean, she's drop-dead gorgeous. At the beginning of the school year, I made the mistake of telling her so. Now she seems to have it in for me."

I asked, "What makes you think she has it in for you?"

"She's tried to trip me a bunch of times. In PE, she throws things at me. I keep noticing her glancing at me. The other day in PE, we were playing dodgeball, and she kept targeting me. She's not very good. At one point she yelled, 'Hold still you grubber, so I can hit you!'"

Bret asked, "Josh, are you sure she doesn't like you?"

"We keep being assigned to the same small groups. She snarks at me, and insults me."

I told him, "Josh, those are the actions of a girl experiencing puppy love. I'm willing to bet that she thinks you are attractive but, being a starling, she's not allowed to admit it."

"She can find some rich boy to puppy love. She's an obnoxious jerk, and I wish she'd leave me alone."

"Keep trying to avoid her. Eventually she'll give up."

Bret said to me, "It didn't work with you. I mean, look how we wound up." Bret and I kissed.

Josh said, "Gag." He walked away.

Bret asked Reuben, "What have you been studying in school?"

"Frogs."

"That sounds ribbiting." Bret grinned a goofy grin. Raina and I both rolled our eyes.

Robert barbecued various chicken pieces. We had Ruby's homemade cole-slaw, and Audrey's potato salad. Helen baked a batch of her home-made buttermilk biscuits.

At dinner I asked, "So what is it that we're celebrating?"

Charles answered, "We are commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus."

"We're celebrating the fact that some guy died? When did this happen, exactly?"

"About two thousand years ago."

"We are celebrating the fact that some guy died two thousand years ago?"

"There is more to it than that. He was resurrected."

I didn't know what that meant, and I didn't care. I was scared to ask why it's celebrated with chocolate bunnies, colored eggs, and baskets of candy.

Bret whispered to me, "It's a Christian religious thing."

After dinner, they all wanted to know how well I had settled in. As a starling, I had always been expected to want to be the center of attention. That afternoon, what I felt was the exact opposite. I thoroughly enjoyed being included in conversations, but not about myself. Now, can we please change the subject?