1: birthday
"I'm so happy!" I sing as we pull up to the pet store parking lot. I've been begging for this moment for months. I'm shaking, something I do when I'm exited. I hop out of the car as fast as I can and run to the front doors. "Calm down." says my brother. "I'm trying!" I yell back, "Now hurry up!" They were walking slow, too slow, what if someone was in there buying the bird? Mom had said she phoned the place and they said they had a parakeet there for a month. I felt bad for it. they finally catch up. I rush through the doors.
the odor of pets fill my lungs. its a small place, a lot of tanks filled with fish on the back wall, and next to that 10 gallon tanks with the mice, hamsters, rats, hedgehogs, and guinea pigs. There was a small room, which was the place the reptiles and insects were kept. In front of that room were what we came here for... the birds.
"Hello!" exclaimed a man behind the checkout counter. he was tall and skinny, short dirty blond hair, he looked around 21. "Hi." I said back, smiling. I had seen him before, I had came here a year ago to get my hamsters, he was the man that said that a hamsters man parts was tumor. I walked over to the birds. I looked up at mom. "Were is the parakeet?" The cages were labeled bumble bee conure and parrotlet. I had never heard of a bumble bee conure, but I knew that parrotlets were the birds my uncle owns. The tall man walked over and pointed to the corner of the reptile room. "He is in there." He opened the door to the room and walked over to the corner. it was sitting on a wood perch in a 'cage' (that was really just hardware wire nailed to the wall) "he" was obviously a she. "were are her friends?" I ask. "oh, a man came in and took four out of the five." he answered, opening the door to the cage, the bird flew rapidly across the cage and landed on the floor. the tall man reached for her, she flew and landed on the side of the 'cage' "Do you wanna try?" He asks. I nod. I go very slowly to the 'cage' reach my hand in. I get two inches away from her before she flies away. "Can I look at the other ones?" I ask. "Yep," he responds. We walk out. The man opens the cage to the parrotlets and gestures me to try. I reach my hand into the cage. They both bite. Really hard. I put my hand back out of the cage. Mom's try. They bite but she doesn't pull back. "No, no bite. Come on, step up, be a good birdie, be a good baby, step up." They bite more and she pulls her hand out of the cage. I whisper to mom "can we go back to Petco?" We had been there an hour before and they had many parakeets. I try to say it quiet so the tall man does not hear. "Do you want me to go?" No one answer but he still walks away. "Can we go back to Petco" I say louder. mom shakes her head and says "No, no, no , honey, were not driving back and fourth. We can wait a few days, or just not get a bird" I make a grumpy face at her.
"Come on, lets go." I say walking towards the exit. "I've changed my mind."
