My daughter's dream came through when a little visitor flew in to visit our HDB room on the evening of 22 June 08 Well, she has asked me for a pet, be it a puppy or a parrot but I had said no. Her school has asked her to do a power point on "Groom a Pet" for the June holidays and I have given her play dole to mould a pet parrot as her project. So, imagine her delight when she spotted the beautiful creature visiting our home!
I must admit, I was both scared and thrilled though. Wondering how I should deal with the uninvited guest. It was very pretty, with green feathers and a red face and blue tail. It chirped and stood on my coffee table while my daughter and I were both having dinner. First instinct, I gave her some cooked rice but she does not seemed satisfied and flew onto my dining table and perched on my dish of sardine. My daughter rushed to tell her dad in the bedroom while I tried shoo it away. The next thing you know, it flew on and hung on to the back of my clothes and I was terrified, running around in the hall. My husband opened the door and asked me to get out so that it can fly off. We did not want to keep the bird becasue of our 1 year old toddler. We were concerned about the hygiene and the receent bird flu case. He opened the door and the bird flew but did not went far away. Then it perched onto the latch on the parapet of the building and stopped there. We kept saying to it, fly bird, go free. But it would not go. I went back to the house and gave it a slice of apple and it looked like it enjoyed and nibbled and ultimately finished the whole slice.
My neighbour, an old lady came and commented on the beauty of the bird. Then, another neighbour from another unit came back. I asked the young girl if she has any cage since she has a hamster before as the bird refused to leave and I was afraid that other people or a cat would catch the bird. She came back with the cage and we managed to put the bird into the cage.
After bringing back to the house, we admire the pretty birdie and seem to have some emotional connection with it. It looked so cute and friendly. Then, I looked at my son and was instantly worried about the hygiene again I told my daugther to give it to the school aviary where there is alot of birds, but she wanted to keep it. I told her the bird would be lonely but looking at the beauty of the bird told her alright, maybe we can find its owner (maybe staying nearby and lost the bird) or keep it for maximum 1 week.
The next day was school re- opening day and my daughter brought the bird to school. The children liked it very much and they decided that she is a female and named her Penny the Parrot. Unfortunately, the form teacher was sick for a week and a relief teacher took over for the few days. So, we decided to keep the bird till she was well and present it to her then.
Everyday, we looked at the Penny (well, if it is male, then we decided that it would be Peter) and talked to it. It even "played" with us, swaying form 1 side to the other, as if playing hide & seek with us. It was simply adorable and playful. My domestic helper would clean the cage at night (after my son slept) with gloves and we would feed it with rice, apple, water and even pumpkin.
Late last night, which was the fourth night, however, it seemed weak and tired. I thought it was sleepy and told my daughter to go to bed and let' s not disturb the birdie. I did not know it would be our last time to see it alive.
The next day, it was dead. I was devastated. I wondered why. Was it lonely? Under- fed? I asked if my maid fed it well. Was it sick? I was depressed. If only I had given it to the aviary and it would be well- taken care of. Did it flew in and court death? I mourned for her. True, it is only a bird, but it is still a life. A beautiful creature wasted away in my hands...I felt remorseful at not giving it away earlier and guilt consumed me for the whole day. I should have let it go but looking at its beauty, I thought maybe I can keep it for alittle while. It felt it was my fault. If I had truly love it and meant it well, I would not have kept it and unwittingly caused it to die? It also started to set me thinking that life is short and fragile and every moment is fleeting.
It's death taught me to take a close look at my own life. How would I want to spend in my limited time on earth? I have been so busy, I did not even had time to give it a decent burial. I must take a deeper examination of what I am doing to life currently. The flight of time was scaringly short with the little pretty bird. It maybe pretty, but it's span on planet earth, short.
I prayed that it's soul rest peacefully in heaven.
Rest well, little Penny, hope to meet you in heaven someday.
We truly missed you, rest In Peace, our feathered friend.
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