Dead parakeet
Oct. 21st, 2006 22:58![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mapsedgeI found Jack, the friendlier of our two parakeets - I should say, Katie's two parakeets - dead this afternoon. I happened to glance into the cage, and he was en repose in the bottom of the cage. I took him out, and cradling him in my hands, showed him to Katie.
"Is he dead?" she asked.
"Yes, honey, he's dead."
"Did the cats eat him?"
"No, not the cats. Sometimes, animals just die. He might have been sick, he might have been too cold. We just don't know."
She regarded the bird in silence for a few minutes.
"So, now," I said, "We have to decide what to do with him."
She thought about it a minute, then proved once again whose child she is.
"We can't eat him, he wouldn't taste very good."
Ultimately, we braved the rain and buried him under the maple tree out front. She put him in the bottom of the shallow hole, I piled the dirt back on, and we turned to go into the house.
I asked, "Do you want to say anything to God, maybe tell him to expect company?"
She nodded, then clasped her hands and put them under her chin, her eyes closed tight. "Dear God," she said, in a voice so quiet I had to strain to hear, "Take care of the bird. Amen."
Then we went inside to finish watching "The Empire Strikes Back."
"Is he dead?" she asked.
"Yes, honey, he's dead."
"Did the cats eat him?"
"No, not the cats. Sometimes, animals just die. He might have been sick, he might have been too cold. We just don't know."
She regarded the bird in silence for a few minutes.
"So, now," I said, "We have to decide what to do with him."
She thought about it a minute, then proved once again whose child she is.
"We can't eat him, he wouldn't taste very good."
Ultimately, we braved the rain and buried him under the maple tree out front. She put him in the bottom of the shallow hole, I piled the dirt back on, and we turned to go into the house.
I asked, "Do you want to say anything to God, maybe tell him to expect company?"
She nodded, then clasped her hands and put them under her chin, her eyes closed tight. "Dear God," she said, in a voice so quiet I had to strain to hear, "Take care of the bird. Amen."
Then we went inside to finish watching "The Empire Strikes Back."