THE
LITTLE BROWN BIRD By Amanda
J Rees
It
was springtime in Aunt Emily's garden, the daffodils were bending
and swaying in the warm breeze. Aunt Emily sat quietly with a cup
of tea listening to the birds singing, she heard the "chirrup, chirrup"
of a sparrow as it flew low across the garden and landed in a nearby
bush, Aunt Emily noticed its shiny black chest with a grey belly,
she thought how smart it looked, like a black tie with a grey suit.
Suddenly she heard a loud fast tapping, looking around she spotted
a woodpecker in the trees at the end of her garden, he was looking
for grubs under the bark. How beautiful it looked with its bright
red head and green and gold wings. Aunt Emily sat enjoying the sights
and sounds of the garden. A small brown bird had perched on a spade
handle just a few feet away from her chair.
Aunt
Emily looked at this little bird and said, "well, what a pretty little
thing you are", the bird looked at the old lady for a while, then
suddenly and quite clearly the bird spoke! "I am not pretty, IÕm dull
and boring, all the other birds in your garden are colourful and bright,
IÕm just small and brown". Well, Aunt Emily nearly fell off her chair
with surprise; she had never heard a bird talk before. Well, she did
once at a pet shop, but that was a parrot! Very softly Aunt Emily
said, "my dear sweet thing donÕt be sad, IÕm sure we can think of
something to brighten you up a little". As the old lady and little
bird sat in the garden thinking the thin clouds parted and the sun
got even hotter. Aunt Emily put on her sun hat, "IÕm getting quite
hot in the sun", she said. "Oh, I love the sun," said the little bird,
just then Aunt Emily noticed that the little brown birds chest was
getting redder and redder in the heat. "Oh my!" said Aunt Emily, "that
looks wonderful!" The little bird looked at his reflection in the
teacup, "oh yes, I do look wonderful, oh thank you, thank you" said
the little bird and he started to sing the most beautiful song that
Aunt Emily had ever heard. "I must go and show off my new colours
to all my friends" he said excitedly. "Just before you go, what is
your name?" Aunt Emily asked. "Oh! my name is Robin" said the little
bird. As he went to fly away, Aunt Emily asked, "will I see you again?"
"Oh yes" said the robin, "IÕm always in your garden, youÕve just never
noticed me before, I follow you around when you are gardening, picking
up the worms that you uncover when you are digging". "Well!" said
Aunt Emily, "I will definitely notice you now, with your bright red
chest!" With that the robin flew onto the fence singing as loudly
as he could.
Next
time you are in your garden, see if you can find a Robin!
| all illustrations by Max Buckland |
