The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 19

Jaws dropping, Thunder and Rain slowly turned their heads towards each other when they heard those words. Their hearts swelled with hope. They watched eagerly as Phil recovered from shock... somewhat. Pointing at the two hawks silently, he opened his mouth to say something. Nothing came out though. Coughing slightly, he hit himself in the chest with a closed fist and tried again, finally getting out, "You... wanna buy... them?" As he had been talking, he had been gesturing with his hands towards the old man and the hawks. His arms crossed, the old man asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Oh no no no, there's no problem!" Phil exclaimed, adding quietly while he scratched his chin, "But I hear you need to have a permit for birds like these-"

"I have a permit, thank you," the old man interrupted Phil by holding his hand up and explained, "I have worked with birds like them before. How much do they cost?" Thunder and Rain were trembling with excitement now. This was one of those rare times where someone would ask about their price. However, they always turned away when they heard about it. They watched anxiously as Phil answered, "They're three hundred each."

"Six hundred dollars? That's a little bit pricey for birds their age, don't ya think?"

"Hey, it's what the site said."

"What site?"

Sighing, Phil whipped out his phone. After he pulled up the website he was talking about, he showed it to the old man, who frowned and pointed out, "This site is a complete lie. You see this? That's not even the name of a bird!"

"It's not?"

"No, a platypus is a mammal."

"It is?"

"Something tells me he's not the brightest rabbit in the burrow," Thunder murmured to Rain, who nodded her head in agreement.

"At their age, I would say they would be a hundred fifty dollars each, maybe less," the old man informed Phil.

"Sorry, I'm not lowering my price. These are the only bald eagles ever to be in my store and I'm not selling them for a hundred and fifty bucks," Phil pointed out, adding, "Six hundred, no less." Sighing, the old man looked down at Thunder and Rain. They gazed back up at him with round eyes, begging him not to give up. Looking back at Phil, he pointed out, "You need to get your eyes checked."

"What?"

"These aren't bald eagles. They're red tailed hawks."

"No, they're bald eagles."

A hiss from Thunder silenced Phil. Gesturing towards him and Rain, the old man spoke smoothly, "Red tailed hawks." Fuming that he had to be corrected, Phil stormed off, the old man following. Watching him leave, both hawks lost hope and laid down in their cage. Tears rolling down her face, Rain whimpered sadly, "We were so close..."

"Better luck next time. Oh wait, there probably won't be a next time!" the parakeet chirped nearby.

Giving the parakeet a glare full of daggers, Thunder curled up beside Rain. He tried to nuzzle her but the muzzle made things difficult. Sighing quietly, he rested his head on the bottom of the cage. Crying softly, his sister hid her face in his chest. The two siblings just huddled together, trying to ignore the laughter of the other birds while comforting each other. Just then, they heard footsteps coming back their way. Confused, they looked up to find the old man coming their way, Phil on his heels with a carrier. Kneeling down in front of the cage, the old man remarked, "Looks like you're coming home with me."

"Hope they're worth eight hundred bucks," Phil murmured as he opened up the cage. Taking the muzzle off Thunder, he tried to get the young hawks into the carrier. However, they backed away from him. Throwing his hands up into the air, the pet shop owner let the old man take care of it. He managed to get both hawks inside the carrier with ease. "Have a good day," he told Phil as he headed for the door. Grinning at the parakeets, Thunder exclaimed, "See ya later suckers!" Rain waved goodbye to them.

Once the bell above the door rang as a signal that they had left, one parakeet turned to the other and asked, "What just happened?"