The Bird Room

"That's what I said, after I leave here today I'm going to the pet store to buy a parrot," Eli said with a smile on his face.

"No, I heard what you said. What I wanna know is why?"

"Why not? They can't be that hard to take care of and, unlike other pets, a parrot will talk to you. I think it sounds like a good investment if you ask me."

"Whatever, it's your life, not mine," Joey said and walked away. Eli and Joey had been friends since the ninth grade, now they were both twenty-three, and worked in a factory called Larry's Rubber, a tire warehouse. Eli punched out on his time card and told Joey he'd see him when he got home with their new parrot.

"No, your new parrot, I don't want a parrot. If I did then I'd already have one. Have fun at the pet store, I'm outta here." Joey walked outside to his 1965 baby blue Ford Mustang, or Baby 65, as he called it. Eli walked to his car, not quite a 1965 Ford Mustang, but he loved his little silver Honda Civic all the same.

It didn't take any time at all to get to the exotic pet store he had found on the Internet; it was only a few miles away and the roads were clear. He walked through the door and to the bird section and started shopping for his new pet. After about five minutes of browsing he was approached by a cute blonde woman wearing a store shirt.

"Is there anything I can help you with sir?" Eli smiled at her and said,

"Actually, yes, there is, Ms...?"

"Brandy," she offered her hand.

"Nice to meet you Brandy," said Eli as he shook her hand. "My name is Eli. I'm interested in a parrot, and your website said you have a small selection here."

"Of course, our parrots are right over here," she said as she turned on her heel and walked down the next aisle. "Right now, we have seven different parrots. The Green Winged Macaw is the largest and most popular, though for a first-time owner we typically don't recommend a Macaw. I would suggest having a look at the Yellow-Faced Parrotlet. They have a large bird personality in a love bird package. Go ahead and have a look, and I'll be here to answer any questions you have."

"Awesome, thank you very much." Eli looked at each cage with childish awe on his face, and his ears were filled with squawking, and random bits of the English language through birdie vocal chords. "Do they all talk?"

"Yes, some better than others. The more time you put into teaching them the more they know. My friend had a parrot that could carry on a conversation for a minute or two."

"That's pretty cool, do you have any like that here?"

"I'm afraid most of the birds here are a lot younger and many of them have only had one owner, a couple have never been owned." Eli looked down the wall of encased birds until he saw one he hadn't noticed earlier. It was at the very end of the row slightly behind a cart with what looked like a hundred pounds of birdseed on it. He walked down to where the parrot was at and looked at him. The bird was completely gray, with piercing lead-colored eyes.

"What kind of parrot is this?" Eli asked. He was dumbfounded by the sight of the bird. He didn't know why, but there was something about this parrot that was different from the rest.

"He's an African Grey. He's been here the longest out of any of the other parrots; people just seem to like the more colorful ones."

"I'll take him," said Eli.

"Alright, well let me go ahead and get him ready for you. You can meet me up front at register thirteen, if you'd like."

"Sure." Eli walked over to the register and was met by Brandy a moment later with his new bird. The checkout process went fairly quickly and, before he knew it, Eli was driving home with the bird in the passenger seat. The ride had been a silent one until, out of nowhere, about a block from his house, the parrot squawked, "Tell what you saw. Tell what you saw," in that parroty Polly-want-a-cracker voice.