Parrot Talk

Winner---4/12/07}

ID: 896794   (Rated: 13+) Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  Enter your story of 300 words or less. Note new starting time! by arakun the twisted raccoon

         Parrots live a very long time. Dovey was old when I got her. She had belonged to other people before and when I bought her it was more like a rescue than obtaining a new pet. She's a talker all right; almost any sound she hears she imitates. She can be noisy sometimes and I have to cover her cage for a little while. Especially when she starts doing her jack hammer imitation.

         She remembers anything she ever heard. The first time I had friends over Dovey was charming. She said cute things and sang Amazing Grace for them. I didn't even know she could do that.

         My friends were impressed and I rewarded her with a melon ball. She picked it up delicately in her claw and was about to begin eating the treat when it slipped and fell to the bottom of her cage.

         Dovey looked down and said, "@#$%." There was no mistaking what she said. It was @#$%. My friends were aghast. Nobody said @#$% in their presence. They looked at me as if they thought I taught her that.

         Dovey saw that she had captured the attention of the room and parrots love attention, you find something that works you stick with it. She repeated "@#$%." She scratched her beak with her claw and said "@#$%," How do you tell a bird to shut up? Do you wash out her beak with yellow soap? Do you send her to her room?

         Usually when I cover the cage she gets quiet, but not this time. I put the cover in place and Dovey let out one more raucous @#$%, From under the cover came the unmistakable sounds of a jackhammer. I tapped on the cage and said, "Stop it!"

         Dovey replied "@#$%" and went on hammering.


300 words