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The two budgies, Chalmers and Edme
looked thru the bars of their cage. "I wish I could get out of here, just
for an hour," Chalmers said. "I’d love to fly out the window and explore
the world outside."
"What if the cat got you? Erskine is
always sitting on the floor watching us. I know he wants to eat us," Edme
said.
"He’s a cat. He’s lazy. All Erskine
does is sleep. I’m sure he rarely goes outside," Chalmers sighed. "I
wonder if I used my beak if I could open the door to the birdcage."
"Don’t do that! Erskine could stick
his paw in and catch one of us," Edme feared.
"You come with me then. Both of us
deserve to go outside for a while. It’s a sunny day today, a rare thing in
this part of Scotland. Let’s take advantage of it and enjoy the outdoors,"
Chalmers coaxed. Without waiting for an answer he began to peck at the
door with his beak. "It worked!" he shouted as the door swung open. "We’d
better hurry before Erskine comes in the room." He flew out of the cage
and right out the living room window.
"Wait for me," Edme squawked and
followed Chalmers.
They both landed on a branch of the
tree in the back garden. "Freedom! Just look around. Isn’t it lovely?"
Chalmers asked.
"It is rather lovely. I do have to
admit that. There are chrysanthemums over there. Aren’t they beautiful?
Och, there’s some daisies and look at the heather. Chalmers, it is
wonderful out here," Edme laughed.
"Yes it is. Aren’t you glad you
came? Look at the sky. It’s particularly blue today. Oh, Edme, look over
there. Aren’t those robins?" Chalmers said.
Edme looked around. "They are. Those
are the first birds I’ve ever seen, besides you. Let’s sit here for a
while and enjoy everything around us."
The birds perched on the branch of
the tree. Chalmers was a beautiful pale blue bird. He noticed that his
coloring matched the sky. Edme was bright green, the same color as the new
spring leaves. Neither of the budgies noticed that Erskine had come out of
the house. He was stretching his legs and yawning. He noticed them in the
tree. "What’s this?" he whispered. "Is that Edme and Chalmers out of their
cage?" The cat ran back inside to see. The cage was empty. He ran back
outside. "Well, well, well. I’ve been waiting a long time to catch those
two budgies. Now’s my chance." He snuck over to the tree and began to
climb up the trunk.
"Chalmers, I think we’ve been out
here long enough. I’ve got a bad feeling suddenly. Let’s go inside," Edme
said, feeling very nervous.
"What’s wrong, Edme? We’re perfectly
safe up here," Chalmers scoffed.
Just then Erskine climbed onto the
branch with them. He crept silently towards the blue budgie. "Chalmers!
Look out!" Edme shouted. Chalmers turned around just in time to see
Erskine leap towards him. He flew into the air. Edme was already heading
back to the birdcage.
"Wait for me!" Chalmers squealed. He
flew as fast as he could into the cage. He slammed the door behind him and
made sure it was locked.
Erskine sat on the tree limb. "Drat!
I almost had them."
"Chalmers, I am never leaving this
cage again. We were almost eaten by that cat. I didn’t even see him come
out of the house, never mind climb the tree," Edme said, her heart
pounding.
Chalmers took some deep breaths. "I
think you’re right, Edme. That cat is too sneaky."
From then on the two budgies were
happy inside the cage. They had plenty to eat and drink and were safe from
Erskine. |
