The Former Life of a Caged Parrot

Larry wasn't always as "free as a bird" or so the saying goes. Larry was actually born into captivity, in a small but quaint Pet Shop in rural Indiana. Being one of many green parrots, nothing about him particularly made him stick out from all the other birds in the shop, but nevertheless he was sold early on to an old man who wanted "a singing bird." As male parrots are more likely to sing to attract a mate, Larry was chosen, boxed up and sent on his way to his new home with the elderly gentleman.

His new home turned out to be in somewhat of a sterilized room where an nice old lady would sit and sleep and play the piano next to his cage. Almost every day the little old man would come to see the little old lady and he would talk to her and she would listen. Some days she recognized the little old man and gave him a big squeal and hug whenever she saw him enter her room. Other days she looked at him with a confused look of recognition but unsure about about how she knew him. She was always delighted, however, and her face lit up whenever he suggested that she play the piano. Her fingers flawlessly caressed the keys and remembered every movement necessary to aid the instrument in singing its perfect song.

Every once in a while, the little old man would turn to her green parrot and say, "Come on Bird. Do what you're supposed to do. Sing!" and the little old lady would turn to the little old man and say, "Now now, let him be. Larry's just finding his voice. He has to find his voice before he can find his song."

"Well, how long is it gonna take that gosh-darn bird to find his voice?" the old man responded gruffly.

"In his own time. He'll know when he's ready. Maybe he just needs to smell the rainforest or feel the wind underneath his wings. He is a parrot after all. Maybe he's sad because he isn't free and all he has for company is a little old lady like me," she responded.

"Don't be daft. He doesn't want to be free. That silly bird loves spending time with you, just like I do, and he's plenty happy where he is. I just wish he'd sing. I thought you'd like to have a singing bird to keep you company."

"Oh I love Larry even if he doesn't sing. Just like I love YOU and you never sing a note," she laughed and patted his leg. "I may not always remember your name, but just like my fingers can remember their song, I can remember I love you." The old man gave his wife a loving hug and said, "Well, as long as he makes you happy. Otherwise its Bird Soup for him."

One Tuesday night, as Larry and the little old lady were watching their regular episode of GLEE while happily munching on some sunflower seeds, he saw the bowl of shells slip from the little old lady's fingers and shatter on the floor. The little old lady sat motionless and Larry grew quite scared because he knew something was wrong but he didn't know what to do. On the TV, the funny coach was blowing a weird noise maker to get the attention of her cheerleaders, so Larry mustered up all his strength and repeated the sound of the whistle as loud and long as he could to the best of his ability. He whistled and trilled until he thought he couldn't whistle anymore and even then he kept whistling until finally a nurse in a pink uniform came into the room and saw the little old lady. Suddenly there was such a commotion of doctors and nurses, that Larry thought his cage was going to get knocked over. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the little old man appear at the doorway. He was looking in at the little old lady and Larry thought he noticed water falling down his cheeks, but almost immediately, the pink nurse took him by the arm and said, "Come on Larry, I need you to wait in the waiting room. I promise we'll do everything we can but the doctors need space. Its gonna be okay."

When all the commotion had died down and everyone had emptied the room, the nurse grabbed Larry's cage and took him out to the lobby where the little old man and a few other people faintly resembling him stood anxiously nearby. She handed his cage to the little old man and said, "This little guy did everything he could to raise a racket to save your wife but we just couldn't get there in time. I'm so sorry for your loss."

The little old man took Larry's cage and whispered, "thank you," even as the cage slipped from his fingers and he crumpled to the floor and started to sob. Larry hopped around as seeds, water and poo splashed all around him in his fallen cage. The little old man was making funny sounds so Larry joined him with his new whistle noise. Soon people were covering their ears, shouting at each other to shut him up and the little old man looked as if seeing Larry for the first time.

"So, you finally found your voice. Well then, see if you can turn it into a song." And with that he opened up Larry's cage and threw him out of his gilded protection.

"GO! Shoe!! SCRAM! Get outta here you dumb bird! Go fly! Go be free! Go to a rainforest or to hell, I don't care where you go just leave me alone."

Larry didn't know what to do. He flew around the room once then twice then landed back by his cage hoping the little old man would open the door. The other humans were trying to console the old man, trying to get Larry back in the cage, but the old man swatted their hands away.

"She said he wanted to be free and I said as long as he had her for company he was happy where he was, so now, let him be free. You hear me, you darn bird?? Get outta here! Do you wanna be BIRD SOUP?? THEN GO LARRY! LEAVE LARRY! Go find your song!"

So the scared little Larry hopped three hops and then flew up into the air and frantically scrambled out the door into the cold, dark night not knowing what he would do or where he would go.