I had wanted a pet of some kind as long as I could
remember.


Being an only child in that big house, I longed for
something of my very own. A neighbor lady gave
us a nearly new bird cage, and I pleaded for a bird.
A canary or a parakeet.


Finally, my 14th birthday rolled around and as I
entered our home, I heard a chirping sound. I was
given a beautiful blue parakeet with a little yellow
bowl - like tuft on his head and a vivid green
tummy. Ohhhh, I loved him instantly and named him,
"Rocky" after a friend's pet.



He hopped around that cage and watched me intently
as he bobbed his little head up and down. Every day,
I would speak in a high falsetto voice,
"Rocky Is A Pretty Boy"
over and over. He would cling to the side of the cage
as if listening to every syllable I uttered.


One day as I was cleaning his cage, Rocky became an
escapee. He flew all around the downstairs and could
not be caught. Being panicked that someone would
open a door and he would be gone forever, I kept
saying, "Rocky Is A Pretty Boy" again and again.
Suddenly there was a flutter of feathers as he settled
on my head and then to my shoulder. I was amazed at
this and I got a small mirror from his cage and enticed
him back inside.



Rocky became a regular beggar after this and my
Step-Mom let him have some freedom every day. He loved
soaring high and swooping low, then landing on someone's
head for a ride. He began to mimic my voice as he
repeated the phrase I lovingly taught him. Sometimes, he
got stuck on the word, " Pretty, Pretty, Pretty.


We all loved that bird and he was let out every day to
come and go as he pleased. One day my Step-Mom
made a banana cake with fancy icing, and planned to take
it to a church pot luck supper. Everyone in our little
village knew that she was a wonderful baker of anything.



As she put the cake on the counter to be taken to the
get-together, she forgot Rocky was loose. To her horror,
she found bird footprints straight down the middle of
the cake and Rocky sat in his cage cleaning his feet
with his little ball-like tongue. She said, "I can't take
this now!"


With a sneaky grin, she got a knife & dipped it in hot
water, erasing any signs of bird prints. At the church
get-together, folks knowing what a good baker my
Step-Mom was, lined up for a piece of her cake.
We all went home laughing at the thought of the bird
foot imprints.



We learned to never let Rocky loose when food was
out. I still laugh at the memory of my beloved pet
and his many antics over his 3 year life span.


Ann Marie Fisher
©April 21, 2007

Scripture from Psalm: 147

Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.