Gone Without a Goodbye..

Plunk.. plunk.. plunk... The dry winter dirt fell down heavily, as my sister Grace and I continued to cover Tweetie. Why couldn't we have brought her in the house? Or hurried up and got tape for her wing? I felt horrible. like it was all because of us. It was freezing out there! what were we thinking?

Tweetie was a pretty little thing. Although she had a broken wing, we all loved her dearly. It all began one late December afternoon when my younger brother and sister-Sam and Laila, came rushing into the house. "Emily! Emily!-" They yelled. "Come help us get this bird. It's wing is broken!" I was out there in minutes. They had nearly rolled her over with their bikes in our backyard. She was hopping all over the place tweeting loudly. It seemed to me as if she was trying to call her siblings, but it looked like they had started to migrate. There was no place for her to go.

 "Grace!!" I called to my older sister. "Can you give me a hand with this, please?" Picking her up as carefully as we could. Which took quite a while. We placed her into a brown box. If we knew what was to become of her, we would have left her, but that's not what we did.

We brought her into our house and started adding things to her box. like branches and toys, so she'd feel warm and safe. All my brothers and sisters helped. We all really wanted her to feel better and wanted her wing to heal. We asked our parents if she could live in the house with us. Since we lived with are Grandfather, the answer was no. She ended up in the pool-house which wasn't heated and really cold. 

Thinking back, I now realize just how little we knew about birds. Had we searched for information that first night, maybe just maybe she would have had more of a chance to survive.

The third day we had her, I went out to check on her and keep her company.

 "Hey Tweetie Tweetie!" I said anxiously. "let me see what you're doing?" I flipped the top up to open the box. The box was closed tightly to help keep her warm. Before I could blink ZOOM! SQUEAK! A flash sped by me. "What in the.." Tweetie was hopping up and down on the freezing pool-house floor. "Oh dear." I murmured. "Come here little princess I don't bite." I didn't bite but she did. Giving me a hard peck on my pinkie she flopped away once again bumping into the wall. I decided to leave her out of her box for a little bit so that she could have some fun. I rubbed my hands together. My bones feeling frostbitten. "Alright, Tweetie" I said, becoming aware of how cold it was out there. "let's get you back in your box."

The day before the breath taking news arrived. Me, Grace and Our parents were together in our guest room talking about what we could do to fix Tweetie's wing. Our plan was to get animal tape for her wing the next time we went out. Since Tweetie was now living in the pool-house, we went out to put a cover over her cage thinking it might help keep her warm. Once again, we asked the adults if Tweetie could come into the house where it was warm. The answer was still no.  It was a Saturday morning when I hopped out of my bed and went to check on Tweetie. I was going to go change her food and play with her for a while but arriving at my destination was as far as I got. As I entered the pool-house the hair on my skin felt like it had been shocked by electricity. Something was wrong, but what? I went to Tweetie's brown box that was sitting in the corner. lifting the lid a little less enthusiastically than the last time. I peeked in. Oh dear.. what? I had thought to myself. This can't be true.. Tweetie was sitting motionless. frozen in her sleep. Picking her up, I felt my hands become even colder than they were.

"What in the world?" I ran into the house and rushed up the stairs to my family. Grabbing a towel on the way. My heart was beating as loud as a steel drum. I called my mother nearly in tears while wondering what happened to Tweetie. Please tell me she's not leaving us! I tried to bite back my tears as I announced the news to the rest of my family. Holding up Tweetie so they could see her for the last time. I wrapped her gently in the towel. 

"Well..." My mother said a little hesitantly. "Grace go help your sister with Tweetie please." We weren't ready to give up on Tweetie just yet. We tried to warm her to see if she would wake up. But that didn't work. She was really gone. As Grace and I dragged ourselves toward Tweetie's awaiting grave. I held Tweetie against my chest finally allowing my tears to flow freely.

Plunk.. Plunk..Plunk..the dry winter dirt fell down heavily. Standing in our sterile garden. I thought I could still hear the sound of her tweet oh so faintly like the whisper of wind in the pines, as we continued burying are lovely bird Tweetie who left without a goodbye.

Tweetie can you hear?

Is your family near?

They'll come back sometime..

Oh Tweetie don't you fear. 

Maybe in the Summer

You'll see them flying by, 

You will lift your healed wing,

and glide into the sky.

( Thank you for reading <3 Like I said, I was 12 years old when this took place! But please do search up about a animal before you plan to take care of it. -Mio <3 )