Time started: 23:11
Place: My room (Adelaide)
Listening to: "Go to Sleep (Little Man Being Erased.)" - Radiohead
Weather: Not bad.
Mood: Helpful.
I was practising on the piano in the afternoon at home then I hear a slow and soft knocking at our door. I came to an abrupt stop and went to greet the knocker.
It was the elderly woman nextdoor and she seemed a little distressed.
"Ehkyooz meh, leh'il misseh, Ay woz jost wondrin' ef yew cewd du meh a wee leh'il fehvir?" she said in her Scottish accent (for those who can't decipher what I just wrote, it's "Excuse me, li'l missy, I was just wonderin' if you could do me a wee li'l favour?" xD).
I said "Sure, what do you need help with?"
"Well, yew see, my cat cawt a mohwse yeh see, and she's in the 'ohwse an' Ay am afrehd tew goh in..."
"Oh! So would you like me to see if I could get the mouse out for you?"
"Ah yes, please. Thaht wewd beh lohvleh!" she beamed.
I walked into the house to look for her cat. It was an extremely dim lit room with an old rug, old furniture, and old ornaments on the cabinet. The living room smelled of mothballs. A very neat, tidy and typical home of an elderly woman. As I looked around, there was her cat, by the sofa. It was the fluffy black and white feline that I saw almost everyday hanging around our yard. So this is who the cat belongs to! That's one of my life's questions answered!
The cat walked up to me and friendly rubbed against my leg. I gave it a little scratch behind its ears as it closed its eyes and purred in bliss.
"So you're the culprit! So where's the poor thing you've caught?"
As if the cat understood me, she turned around and started playing with this poor little creature that was sort of limping about but still alive.
I called out to the old lady "I found the mouse. Do you have a plastic bag or anything I could use?"
"Yes, Ay've gawt 'em en thih kehtchen dra'er, therd draw dohwn."
Finding a plastic bag in the kitchen, third draw down with no problem, I pulled it out and hurried to the struggling little creature that was temporarily acting as a yarnball for the cat.
The cat obviously wanted to have some fun with it.
"Oi, you...get out of the way so I can get the poor thing!"
The cat wasn't going to fight me. Let's face it. It's smart and knew I was bigger and tougher than she was. I fumbled in the dark room, trying to get this mouse out of the corner. It took me a few seconds to realise that this 'mouse' was no mouse at all! It was a little baby bird!
"Aw, it's not a mouse! It's a bird!"
"Aw naw! Thet's terr'ble! 'f et wawz a mohwse it's nawt soh bahd bot a berd! Thet's jost naw gewd!"
As I held the chick in my hand, it struggled for a while to break free. I held it firmly but not tight enough to hurt it. I looked all over its body to check for any major injuries. The bird was all fine, except for one crippled leg.
"It doesn't look like it's hurt too badly, just one injured leg." I explained.
"Aw gewd! Thahnk ye' soh moch fer ye' trawble! Ay cen goh bahck entew my 'owse agen!" she thanked gratefully.
"No worries. I was glad to have been able to help. I'll try to look after this bird for a while before taking it to the RSPCA".
"Aw thet's soh kaynd ov yew! Yew 'ave a loovleh deh!"
"You too!"
Gosh, I love her Scottish accent! Eheheheh...
The chick calmed down in my hands as I stroked it to calm it down. I could feel its heart throb against my fingers. It was frantic at first but after a couple of minutes of me calming it down, it went down to a very light and slower beating.
As I held it with one hand, I searched my room for a small empty box. With luck, I found an old, empty box in the top shelf of my wardrobe. I didn't think I'd ever use it again so I gently placed the chick into the box. It seemed too tired to respond to its new surrounding and quickly went into a nap.
I searched the kitchen to see if there was anything suitable for me to feed the bird with. I had some apples and mandarins. I also had some left over pasta and rice but I thought the preservatives probably wouldn't be good for the bird.
I mooshed up a bit of apple and mandarin and went over to the bird. I wasn't sure if it would eat fruit but I gave it a try.
As I popped my ugly face over the opening of the box, the bird looked up at me. It looked like it knew I was going to feed it and it opened its mouth. Aww...it was so cute.
I put a bit of mandarin into its mouth. It nibbled on it a bit then dropped from its beak. I tried giving it another piece. It cooperatively opened its mouth again. Again it didn't go in. I tried a third time, and this time I realised it just didn't like the mandarin. I gave the apple a try. After a few goes I decided it had the same result as the mandarin. So the bird wasn't much of a fruit eater then. It looked more like a worm or a locust type.
I went out to search for any bugs that looked like bird feed. I had no luck. I dug around a bit. I don't think I could find any worms and I had a fever too so it was probably a bad idea for me to be out and about digging around for worms.
I went back in to check on the bird. It just sat in the box looking tired. It looked up at me and opened its mouth again.
I went to the kitchen and got a straw. I put some water into the straw and closed one end of the straw so the water was retained. I went back to the bird and waited for it to open its mouth. After it did, I dripped some water down its throat. It seemed to be happy with it. I hope tap water doesn't kill birds because I went to get some more water for it.
Glad that I at least got it to drink a bit, I went back to practising on the piano. After an hour I went to check back on the bird. It was fast asleep. I made up a pleasant thought that perhaps my piano playing lulled it to sleep. That's a pleasant thought, indeed. At least this way I can envision that someone appreciates my piano playing.
It's almost bed time now and I took the box into my room. Ryan was a bit repulsed by having the bird in the living room. The box already contains a lot of its droppings inside. Seriously...how many times does one little bird need to poop in a few hours?! It's crazy. Oh well...as long as it's ONLY in the box.
The bird is fast asleep on the floor, next to my bed. Earlier it seemed more lively and less depressed. I guess the few hours of rest managed to recuperate it. The leg still looks flimsy though. I tried to give it some more water to drink but it seemed to have forgotten that I saved its life and momentarily escaped from me. It flew into my wardrobe and managed to get into my underwear and socks drawer. It was quite a chore to fish it out and I was hoping that it wasn't pooping all over my clothes. Then it flitted away to the other side of the wardrobe where all my books were. Ahh...a more accessible area for me to catch the frightened little animal!
It screeched in my hand and wouldn't cooperate when I tried to give it some water. I gave up and put it back into the box and quickly closed the lid. It jumped around the box for a few minutes. Wow...where did all this energy come from? A few hours ago it could barely pick up any energy to do that! Well...it's a good sign that it's got its energy back but I was also afraid that it was hurting itself.
"Shhh...it's okay. I am not going to hurt you. Stop jumping around, you'll get yourself hurt!"
My words managed to calm it down somehow. The box has been dead silent for the past hour now. I'm hoping that it's fast asleep once again.
I am taking the bird to the RSPCA in town tomorrow. I'm sure the veterinareans there can do a much better job than me looking after it. I'm just glad I managed to save its life. I feel like I've done so many wrong things this year and now I know I've finally done something right. If it wasn't for me, that old lady would still be moping around outside her house in fear and this baby bird would've been a certain cat's lunch.
Time finished: 23:57
Listening to: "This Song" - The Enemy
Mood: Great.
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