by Jake Barnes
My wife is at a conference in Las Vegas. Fortunately, when the bird hits the sliding glass doors in our den, I know what to do. My wife told me. It happens every once in a while. A bird gets spooked by something, and wham! It hits the glass and drops like a stone.
What I do is get a shoe box with holes in it. It's on a shelf in the laundry room. I put the bird in the box and leave it alone for a while. It may be dead; it may be just knocked out.
This time the victim is a mourning dove. Most of the birds that hit the window are doves; sometimes it's a Big Dummy. A Band tail.
I grab the box and go running outside. There's a folded hand towel in the bottom of the box. I lay the dove on the towel and put the top on the box. My wife has poked holes in the box to let in air. I put the box in the laundry room and close the door.
I wait fifteen, twenty minutes, fetch the box, and take it out on the deck. When I take the top off the box, the bird jumps into the air and flies away. I am elated. It is my first “save.”
That night my wife calls from Sin City and tells me that it was a hassle getting a room, but she and her friend, a nurse practitioner, are doubling up. She tells me that her boss, a doctor who is the spitting image of Woody Allen, said she could stay in his room, but she said no.
I tell her about the bird.
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Fiction based on fact.
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Love this.
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Like this story, Jake. *
Birds seem to be a recurring theme in your stories.*
Nice *
Woody Allen has always reminded me of a bird. Enjoyed this. *
All of his care with the stunned bird, like his wife showed him, and then the revived bird jumps out of the box and the wife calls, out of the box, but she goes back into the room, the nest, revived, and here you've given us a wry, fine picture of a real, working marriage. * !
Good imagery. I like.
Great piece. Well written and well constructed. At least two saves here. Bravo.
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Yes! Solid writing Jake. Love the unexpected lead into the ending and the Woody Allen image. I also learned a lot about what I need to do when birds hit our windows, which happens with some frequency! *
I might open with the bird already in the box. Then you have a mystery to explain.
Great story, original and well-told. *