You never know what you'll see in the street. I remember years ago, when I was newly sober and working downtown, I saw these two women--mid 30s, clearly office workers on lunch break--staring at something on the sidewalk. A baby bird. Bulging eyes still closed, mouth open. "Aww," said one. "Poor thing," said the other. Then they walked on. I looked up and saw the nest wedged behind a drain spout. As I stood there, something in me broke. I said, "Not this bird. Not today."
I went inside, told my boss I needed the afternoon off and grabbed an empty cardboard box. I scooped up the tiny bird as carefully as I could, found a payphone, and called a local nature center that saved ordinary garden animals like squirrels and sparrows. They could take the bird, they said. So I boarded a bus for the 9-mile ride from the city. The expressway was closed so the bus took local streets. The air-conditioning was blasting. I'd lined the box with paper towels but the bird still seemed cold. By the time we got to the road where the nature center was, the bird did not look well.
I got off the bus, walked to the nearest business, and asked to use their phone. "It's the guy with the baby bird," I said. "I'm as close as I can get. Can you send a car out?" Ten minutes later, a car pulled up, and a woman from the center got out. She took a peek in the box. The bird was still breathing. "Surprised it made it this far," she said. "Me too," I said. She told me to call the next day for an update. Then I walked the 2 miles home.
The next day I called the center. The bird had been assigned a case number. "It's a starling," said a woman's voice on the other end of the phone. "You brought this bird all the way out from the city on a bus?" I told her I did. "I've been that bird a few times," I said. "Well," the woman said, "he's gonna make it." I hung up. Later, my boss asked about the bird. I told him the story. "You saved a starling?" he said, "But they're pests."
"Yeh," I said, "I know."
Beautiful. Even the pestsvneed love.
Posted by: Thegrasshoppa | July 07, 2011 at 11:56 PM
Even human pests. Your big heart saved an illegal-alien starling-pest. What if no one had given you the second or third or umpteenth chance you needed to get your life turned around? Who the heck are we to judge?
Posted by: trainwatcher | July 08, 2011 at 05:36 AM
What a wonderful story, Charlie. Truly wonderful.
Posted by: Jane | July 10, 2011 at 05:56 PM
I'm so glad I ended up here via the twists and turns of my Twitterfeed. What a lovely story. Gives me that Step 12 feeling.
Posted by: Tracy | July 10, 2011 at 06:02 PM
Aaaaaand that one made me a little emotional. You are a great storyteller.
Posted by: Jasmine | July 10, 2011 at 06:08 PM
Pests are people too-oo!
Love this.
Posted by: Robin K | July 10, 2011 at 06:23 PM
Thanks, all.
Posted by: Charlie | July 10, 2011 at 06:34 PM
Once again Charlie..Wow loved it.
Posted by: Elaine G | July 10, 2011 at 07:23 PM
"But they're pests."
"Yeh," I said, "I know."
i'm crying right now charlie. i miss ya brother
Posted by: jim, GB | July 11, 2011 at 11:43 PM