The Mother Bird

The mother bird has loved her babies ever since she laid their eggs. When she sat on them she was afraid she would let them down, for she was their protector, their jade dragon.

The first one to hatch was The Strongest. It was very picky. It didn't like crickets, it would refuse such jumpy insects. It did love fruit seeds, but fruit seeds were the rarest food. The second one that hatched was The Weakest. It could barely open its mouth.

First, the mother bird would find two worms to feed The Weakest and then find a bunch of fruit seeds to feed The Strongest. This would tire the mother bird. She would rest upon a tree branch in the middle of her journey. She would avoid the clumsy giants who would chase her and try to touch her.

Finally the third one hatched. This one was The Strangest. When it didn't get what it wanted, it would whine so loudly the mother bird would have to fly away. The mother bird felt annoyed when it would do that.

When she found a cricket she went to feed it to The Strongest, The Weakest, and The Strangest. The Weakest tried to open its mouth but it it fell and the only thing peeking out of the nest was its beak. It tried to tweet as loudly as it could. The Strongest shook the little hairs on its head and opened its mouth and stretched out its neck. Even though it didn’t like crickets, it was still hungry. The Strangest whined while opening its mouth, it started to flap its wings.

The mother bird turned towards The Strongest. She bent down to feed the cricket to it. The Strangest was mad that it wasn't getting the cricket. It whined so loud that the mother bird dropped the cricket into the nest. The Strangest dove down only to bang its head on the nest. The Weakest looked at the cricket. It tried to get up, but it couldn't. It wanted the cricket. The mother bird wanted to help The Weakest. She bent down to lift it up. After reaching down for the cricket, The Strangest bumped The Weakest out of the nest and onto a branch below. The mother bird was so scared The Weakest might die. She was horrified and felt that she had failed at her most important job of protecting her babies.

How could the mother bird save her little one? If she tried rescuing it, she worried that the poor bird would fall all the way to the ground. Suddenly, a clumsy giant brought this weird two sided thing. It rested the two sided thing against the tree and climbed up to The Weakest.

What was it going to do? Take The Weakest? Break the branch? Shatter the nest? The clumsy giant came up with rubber gloves and carefully lifted The Weakest back into the nest. It took out a worm for The Weakest and dropped it in its mouth. The Weakest chirped with happiness.

The mother bird could not believe it. The clumsy giant had just saved her child. The Mother nuzzled her head against The Weakest. Half of the cricket was already eaten. The Strongest was eating the second half. The birds chirped with happiness that they were all together.

When the night came they all cozied together. The mother bird was happy and felt like the luckiest mother in the world as she cuddled with her three beautiful baby birds.