There is a reason why Pearl doesn’t get out much.
She is a very curious bird. VERY curious.
During Hurricane Ike a couple of years ago, Pearl and I spent a couple weeks as drifters, moving from one friend’s house to another until the electricity in our home came back on.
We stayed for one full week with my BFF, Kerry. It is a week neither Kerry nor I will ever forget.
I was working days at a contract job at the time, but Kerry was off because the schools were closed. So her official job was to babysit Pearl.
This proved to be a more difficult task than either of us had anticipated.
I was staying in one of the upstairs bedrooms in Kerry’s house. One day I was on the phone with Kerry while driving back to her house after work. Suddenly she says to me, “I have to go.”
I didn’t think anything of it – I’d be arriving there soon anyway.
When I got back to her house, Kerry looked a bit flushed. It took a few minutes to get the full story out. Pearl, being the very sociable “out of cage” bird that she is, had been enjoying the great indoors with Kerry. But then the phone rang and Kerry started talking to me, and when she turned around, Pearl had disappeared.
Knowing that Pearl can’t fly, Kerry then quickly got off the phone with me and ran around inside the house calling for Pearl. Pearl, like any flightless avian who finds herself in a strange situation, was totally silent.
Kerry then ran out of doors to see if Pearl had somehow gotten out. No bird.
Finally, she hears a peep and looks up to discover Pearl climbing the stairs towards my bedroom. She was almost to the top step.
