So I'm
driving home, or rather driving up a side street so I can do a
blockie and
start driving home.
bloody
no right turn signs.
Anyway...
Suddenly
something small and fuzzy-looking flashes across in front of me.
There is a
thump.
Oh Shit. What was that? Could it have been a cat? I have visions of knocking on a door
and telling some
white picket fencer that I have just killed tiddles. nah
fuck that, better
to
just keep driving. Still,
what the fuck was it? and
is it dead?
I pull in to the
kerb, and walk back up the street. There is a
small black bird fluttering helplessly
in the middle of the road.
Strange - I thought it was grey when i hit it. It flutters up to me
and huddles in the road, looking up at me and
cheeping plaintively.
I could swear the damn thing is asking for help
I reach down and scoop it up. It nestles in my hand quite calmly. I walk back to the car and study it.
Its eyes are half-closed and it keeps blinking. This bird is in a
bad way.
What the hell am I going to do with it?
I consider leaving it by the side of the road and driving off but my
inner child asserts himself:
Hey! We could take it home and look after it until its alll better. Then we could let it go again
Yeah right - all that will happen is we end up with a dead bird at home.
But we could put it inna box and keep it warm, and feed it stuff and..
shut up kid.
I notice that its eyes are fully open now and it seem more
alert. I try to encourage it to take off by gently
trying to launch it with my hand, but it just grips tighter. I try to scare it into flying away with a
loud inarticulate noise. It jumps into the air, flutters ineffectually, thumps into the side of the car, slides down to the road and huddles there.
hmmmm. I pick it up and try to see if its
wings are broken. I decide that I really have
no idea, but they seem ok.
I throw it back into the air.
flutter-
bonk-slide-*huddle*.
hmmmm.
Ok, it getting late and I need to get to the gym. I vaguely remember passing a
vet on my way home before. I decide to put the bird in the car and drop it off on my way past. If I don't see the vet I'll just decide what to do when I get home.(
Hooray!shut up kid)
I put the bird on an old
inpress on the passenger seat and turn off the radio in case
JJJ scares it. I drive off and around the next corner is a large sign.
Box Hill Veterinary Surgery.
Ok Cool I take the next right and pull to the kerb again. Unfortunately I brake a little hard and the bird slides off the seat and ends up in the passenger
footwell.
When I try to pick it up it
freaks out and flutters all round the car, banging its head repeatedly on the
windscreen as it tries to get out. Each time I try to grab it, it starts up again. feathers are everywhere. I carefully roll down the passenger window and it shoots out the window and darts up and over the nearest house
like an arrow.
hmmm. It must have just been stunned. pining for the fjords perhaps.
I wind up the window and drive home. The ride seems strangely
peaceful and quiet.- then I remember to turn the radio back on.