Weird things happen when Mia gets bored.

The cockatoos were at the window when I woke up. Twelve of them, all in a row, perched on the sill and looking at me like I was going to feed them.

"Uh, hi," I said with a wave. When I sat up, several parakeets that had been on my blanket fluttered up and tweeted their dissatisfaction. They scattered around the room, landing on any furniture that hadn't been completely overtaken by the dozens of canaries and love birds.

They all stared at me, unblinking. I inched out of bed.

"Mia?" I called. There weren't any birds in the hallway, at least.

"Yeah?" came the reply from her room.

I went in and found her on her bed, reading a book. Her room was filled with large breed parrots, a few I knew the names of, most I didn't.

"Mia are you thinking about birds?"

She looked up form her book and noticed all the birds. She blinked in surprise. "Oh. Uh." She lifted up the book for me to see. It was a photography book about parrots. The sun conure filling the page she was on matched the one sitting next to her perfectly.

"Sorry," she said. "Do I have to make them all go away?"

An amazon looked at me from the dresser. I tentatively pet its head.

"Maybe not now," I said. "But you'll have to send them to the pet store or something before mom finds out."

She nodded and went back to happily reading her book. When she turned the page, a bright green parrot flew in through the window and landed on her dresser.

I smiled and went down stairs to get some breakfast.

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