On 4 November 2005, three young girls came into VIP Pets (a pet shop) in Cresta Centre to buy some Goldfish. Their Mom was nowhere to be seen.
I put on my best charm and after much cooing and aahing from them I had them smitten. A little while later they brought in their Mother. Blow me down, it was love at first sight! I couldn't take my eyes off her. A thunderbolt from the blue! The pet shop assistant kept warning everyone not to touch me because I am a biter and had bitten two people that morning. Me? I would never bite anyone - only if I had enough reason to and I wasn't going to bite this lady, I wanted to spend the rest of her life with me. Those others were men and I don't particularly like that gender.
I couldn't help but feel the lady's tremour as she stroked my beak and let me nibble her fingers, her three daughters egging her on to take me with them. Of course, the pet shop were asking a princely price for me and the poor lady couldn't well afford it.
With great difficulty and sadness in both our hearts, we had to say goodbye. I never thought I would see her again and my pumping heart turned to jelly as I saw her and her children disappear out the store, their voices becoming softer and softer as they walked away, the children begging her to make a plan and she telling them gently that she just couldn't spare that kind of money.
My heart ached with longing to belong to that nice family, their friendly chatter echoing in my head. I later drew blood from a man who kept provoking me, forcing his fat fingers between the bars to touch me and saying weird things and whistling lousy tunes. I just wished they would all leave me alone. Couldn't they tell that I was sad?
At about 14:30 / 15:00, I heard a familiar voice. No, it couldn't be. Must have been my imagination. OH MY WORD! IT IS! IT IS THE LADY FROM THIS MORNING!! OH JOY, OH JOY!!! My little jelly heart started pumping so hard, I didn't think I could make it up to the perch so I could see her again. Oh my! It was, it was! There she stood with a MAN. What happened to the girls? Ah, I see. This is her human companion coming to have a look at me. My rival! My mentor from whom I would learn all things!
The lady asked if the assistants would take me out the cage so she could hold me. They said they would hold me and she could touch me, but she insisted. Yippee! I clung to her like there was no tomorrow. I opened my wings and hugged her tightly. I wasn't going to go back into that cage, NO WAY! I was going to go away with this lady and the man she brought in with her. I wasn't going to suffer a broken heart anymore.
The man bought me a cage, which was a lot smaller than the pet shop one, but big enough for me to be close to the lady. He also bought me seed to eat and the assistant said that I could eat anything - just keep off the onion, chocolate and avocado pears. She also warned that I had a mind of my own and was quite a difficult one and wished everyone good luck.
The lady was very gentle and she took me outside to a thing called a car and climbed inside. I kept very close to her. After a couple of minutes I relaxed and climbed onto her knee from where I was able to look around. The man had put my cage into the back of the car, and he also climbed inside and all of a sudden there was a strange sound and the car started moving - and no-one was flapping! How could they move without flapping? I clung for dear life to the lady and after what felt like forever, the car stopped and the lady held me close to her and we went into this huge place. The lady called it a "house".
I couldn't believe my eyes! There were the three girls I'd seen in the morning! Everything was so overwhelming, and everyone was making such a fuss. The lady held me close and I climbed up so I could nestle my beak against her neck - and I nipped her - good and hard. She immediately scolded me and I could feel that I had frightened her. She lifted me close to her again and I nipped her again in exactly the same place. Boy she was mad! She put me into the cage and said that I was naughty. Now she really was afraid of me and I could feel she didn't want to come near me again.
I couldn't eat or drink. The lady eventually covered the cage and told everyone that it might be best if I settle down and get some rest as I had had a very hectic day and it would take time for me to get used to my surroundings. The girls donated covers for my cage - a blue sky and an african sunset and I have two towels for darkness.
Everything became very quiet but I could hear voices from somewhere else. No. I wanted out of here. I wanted to be with the lady, so I started scratching at the newspaper on the floor of the cage. I scratched and scratched and scratched...... until eventually, I had no choice but to settle down and go to sleep.
This was my choice. This is where I am going to be for the rest of the lady's life.......
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