A bird's secret

Everything around Alaura was so bright and beautiful. The air around her was warm and comfortable. She stared in awe as she walked along the rainforest glancing up into the trees and the rock side as blue, yellow, and red feathers filled the sky. A sense of security filled the young girl as she started to run through the forest as feathers began to sprout all over her body, her arms changing into wings as her body shrunk to the size of the rest of the macaws.

For as long as Alaura remembered, she had enjoyed the freedom of flight with the rest of her family. To feel with wind beneath her wings.

Down below, a group of people watched the flocking birds. One person kept their eyes on a newly changed macaw. There had been stories of a young person who had the ability to transform into a precious scarlet macaw.

“Did you find what you are looking for sir?” a young man asked, next to the older gentleman.

“Yes I did. I know exactly which one I am after. Kaiden, how long do you suspect you can capture her?”

“By the end of the day sir, you will have the bird you seek,” Kaiden said removing his hat look at the plump man, named Ethan.

True to his word, Kaiden presented Ethan with a sleeping scarlet macaw. It took them quite a while for the team to track down the macaw in question and knock it out to put it in the box.

Ethan grinned as he took his prize possession and left the country to go back to his home. Satisfaction felt wonderful as he finally caught the mysteriously magical bird.

-Fifteen years later-

The days were never dull in Brielle MacIntosh’s life. Wake up, scrounge for something to eat, take care of daughter, avoid dad, sleep. Wake up, rinse, and repeat.

For as long as Brielle could remember, it had always been her and her dad since she was eight years old, after the death of her mother. Well, that was until three years ago when she became pregnant with her daughter, Persephone.

She was lucky her father allowed her to stay in the house to raise her daughter instead of kicking her out. She dropped out of college to start her new life, but her life was never easy. Everyday was like playing Russian Roulette, there were days her dad would be completely fine, in control of his life. Other days, Brielle would lock herself in her room with Persephone if his job went horrible and he came home drunk.

After dropping out of college and bringing home her daughter, tension got worse at home when finding work became difficult or she couldn’t hold down a job. Her father blamed her for not contributing to the bills, groceries, or doing anything else around the house.

She wasn’t lazy, or good for nothing, she tried her hardest to do what she could. When she wasn’t job hunting, she spent most of her time cleaning the house from top to bottom, cooking meals, and taking care of Persephone.

As time went on, Brielle was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, causing her to stay at home more and finding jobs was not easy.

Morning came far too early for Brielle’s liking as the sun came up into the shared bedroom. Rubbing at her eyes, Brielle sat up with a groan staring at the toy covered floor around her.

“It’s going to be one of those days,” she groaned.

Getting out of bed, Brielle went around the room picking up the toys and putting them in the toy bin or on the shelves. Once the death traps were put away, she made her way over to Persephone’s bed kissing her cheek.

“Hello my beautiful goddess, time to wake up. Let’s get you ready for Daycare. See all your wonderful friends.”

Brielle picked up Persephone as her eyes opened and stretched hearing her mom’s voice. Smiling at her little girl, she took her to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

“Momma, booberry pancakes,” Persephone said as Brielle put a shirt over her head.

“Pancakes it is. Come on now.”

Once Persephone was dressed in a cute little outfit of jeans and a purple sweater with a unicorn in the middle, Brielle quickly threw on a pair of black jeans, and a simple black tank top, before grabbing her hoodie.

Entering the kitchen, Brielle placed Persephone in her highchair as she went to grab the ingredients for the pancakes and put the kettle on. A note on the counter was the first thing to catch her eye.

“Brielle,

Left early for work, I’ll be home by dinner. Perhaps you can have luck today with finding a job. We are getting low on groceries.

Dad.”

Brielle let out a sigh as she put the note back down. Her eyes caught a glimpse of three unopened envelopes. Picking up the top one, Brielle saw that it was addressed to her from the OSAP office, while the other two were credit card and junk mail.

“Just another month, more bills asking for money,” Brielle sighed pushing the envelopes away. “I need to find something and fast.”

Turning back around, Brielle put on a smile for her daughter so she wouldn’t get worried

“Hey baby, are you getting hungry?”

Persephone nodded chanting ‘booberry pancakes.’ Brielle smiled at she began to blend everything together, while her brain went back to the bills and what she had in her account. There was no way everything was

After the two finished eating breakfast, Brielle got Persephone washed up and into her winter coat before heading out of the house into the chilly November morning. Heading down the street, Brielle kept a hold of Persephone’s hand as the two strolled down the busy sidewalks.

Checking her watch, Brielle took Persephone into a local coffee shop, she had enough time to grab a tea and pick up the newspaper before taking her to daycare. While waiting in line, Brielle flipped through the paper to the help wanted section. Her eyes lit up as soon as she came across an ad for a pet sitter. A Scarlet Macaw to be exact. Those birds were beautiful, and valuable. Scanning the ad, she noticed the number at the bottom with the name.

“Mommy, we next,” Persephone said tugging on Brielle’s hoodie.

Brielle shook her head getting out of her thoughts as she stepped up to the counter and put in her order for an extra-large tea, and two muffins. She never said she couldn’t splurge from time to time. Moving to the side, Brielle grabbed a napkin and took out a crayon from Persephone’s bag, quickly jotting down the name and phone number. This was her chance.

Once she got her tea and the muffins, Brielle led her daughter out of the shop and back onto the street. It didn’t take long before the building came into view. The windows were painted with rainbows, sun, fields, and Disney characters.

Getting inside, Brielle allowed Persephone to run ahead to the waiting teacher as she put the bag in her daughter’s cubby.

“Have fun Persephone, I’ll see you in a few hours,” Brielle called before leaving the building. Her adrenaline ran high at the prospect of getting a job.

A grin formed as she strolled down the street on the lookout for a payphone. Until she had a steady job, she didn’t want to add on extra expenses.

Taking a sip of her tea as she rounded the corner, she spotted an intact payphone. Quickly going over, she crossed her fingers the job was still available.

“Hello, Demain residence,” a young woman’s voice sounded on the other end.

“Good morning, Ms. Demain, I came across an ad you put in the paper for pet sitter, and I was wondering if the position is still available,” Brielle asked getting anxious as she waited for the response.

“Yes, it is. Tell me, are you good with pets?” Ms. Demain asked.

“Yes I am. While I only ever had a dog, I love all kinds, especially birds.”

“Fantastic. Would you be available to come over today to get a tour?”

Brielle had to do a double take. “T-tour? I got the job?”

“Yes you did,” Ms. Demain confirmed brightly.

“I am available right now if that works for you,” Brielle answered bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Perfect. My address is 2947 Ocean Boulevard. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes ma’am, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

After hanging up, she let out an excited squeal running her fingers through her hair. She had a chance. She actually had a chance. Picking up her cup, she made her way over to the bus stop unable to wipe off the smile from her face.

Twenty minutes and two transfers later, Brielle came upon a three-story grey house with its high Gothic turrets and circular drive. Iron-wrought gates wrapped around the property with high shrubberies. Her eyes went wide seeing the place. She glanced up at the long, winding drive, leading up the sloping lawn were cedar and maple trees. A beautiful marble fountain sat in front of the house. In the pool, large koi idled to and fro. Brielle stared in awe at the landscape, she had never seen anything so beautiful.

She mounted the steps to the wide, pillar wrap around porch. Knocking on the door, a young woman of forty years opened the door smiling at her. She wore a pair of grey straight leg dress pants and an ivory, silk top. Brielle thought she must have been on her way to work.

“Hello, you must be Brielle, Genevieve Demain, please come on inside,” Ms. Demain said waving her inside.

Brielle felt her breath catch seeing the inside. There was a hardwood floor of the foyer with gorgeous red Persian rugs running the length of the hall leading to a grand banister staircase climbed majestically to the second floor. Along the walls caught Brielle’s attention the most. They were covered in ceremonial swords, gorgeous paintings from all over the world.

Genevieve led Brielle down the hall passing an open door to the right was a large drawing room. Inside was a marble fireplace whose mantle was carved with fancy garlands and flowers. The cathedral ceiling was molded with more floral designs around the central light fixture. Above the fireplace was a framed photograph of a port belly old man in a white suit with thin white hair covered with a white brimmed hat. On his shoulder sat a red, yellow, and blue feathered scarlet macaw. Brielle’s eyes lingered longer on the bird, staring at its dark eyes. Something about it seemed different to her but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

The next room that the two passed by, was the living room, a giant wrap around bookcase took up part of two walls. Gorgeous contemporary furniture took up the middle of the room with a wide screen television on the on opposite wall of the bookcases. The décor was all warm earth tones. In a case to the other side was filled with crystals, candles, and incenses.

Passing through a door Genevieve led Brielle into a large botanical room where a variety of herbs, flowers and other assorted plants sat on the floor, shelves or the hung from the ceilings. The flooring was a white linoleum flooring with red and blue tiles in a large square around a table. Brielle loved the scent of this room, it felt comforting here.

“This room looks amazing,” Brielle mentioned gazing at all the plants.

“Thank you. I’ve always been fascinated by them. Come along.”

Genevieve led Persephone through the doorway to a large kitchen with light brown walls, with white cupboards. A door at the east wall led to an old-fashioned pantry lined with shelves, while another, in the west wall, stood open, revealing a flight of wooden steps leading to the cellar.

Above the sink was a wide window revealing the spacious backyard, around the edges of the property was another garden filled with variety of plants just like out front and in the other room. Brielle noticed two large metal bowls by one of the walls. She was curious as to what breed of dogs she had.

“Along with the scarlet macaw, I also have an Alaskan husky, and a German Shepard, I must warn you, they shed. Ready to see the birds?”

“Oh yes please,” Brielle all but shrieked in excitement.

Genevieve smiled as she led her through another door. This led to a second short passage, ending in a glass door. Inside was warm and humid, smelling like a cross between a florist and a pet shop; a moist, mossy aroma of wet soil and vegetation was overlaid by a musty aviary smell of feathers, droppings, and seeds. The room had glass walls and a glass ceiling like a greenhouse, and the floor was flagged. In the center was a concrete fountain with a wide, shallow basin. A cherubic little boy held a dolphin-like fish in his arms, a pipe protruding from its curly mouth. Ficus trees and small palms in pots were spaced about the floor, and orchids grew in containers nearby, their red-purple flowers looking exotic and alien.

“Some of these I brought back as specimens from the rainforests of Africa and South America,” explained Genevieve waving her hand toward them. “Orchids and bromeliads and such. I’ve got some more seeds and things preserved upstairs. I’ve been trying to get as many botanical samples as possible on my trips.”

Several birds were perched in the potted trees or sitting on tall wooden perches in the middle of the flagstone floor. At the sight of Genevieve, they broke into excited squawks and whistles. The largest, a glorious creature with a bright red body and tail with splashes of blue and mustard yellow on its wings, opened its hooked bill and gave a penetrating screech.

Genevieve smiled. “Hello, my dears, we’ve got company. Meet the parrots, Brielle. The loudest one is called Alaura, my father found her in the rainforest in Belize fifteen years ago, she was injured, and instead of leaving her down there, he brought her back up here.”

“How did they allow him to bring up such an exotic animal?”

“My father had his ways,” Genevieve answered looking away. “Anyway, you’ve met the birds, would you like to meet the dogs?”

“Yes please!”

Genevieve opened the back door leading to the backyard and went down the three steps whistling. Brielle followed behind her hearing the barking in the distance. Way in the back of the yard by the gates edge two large dogs came bounding toward their human mom. Brielle’s heart melted seeing the two dogs.

“Hello my precious babies. Brielle, the German Sheppard is Dante, and the Husky is Angel. Both are very friendly. If you don’t want them to jump up, just tell them down. Dante is seven, and still active as if he is a puppy again, and Angel is four years old.”

“Hello you two, aren’t you two so precious?” Brielle cooed as she knelt to pet the two dogs. As soon as her knees met the ground, the dogs were all over her, licking at her cheeks trying to knock her down more.

“Dante, Angel! Get off her!” Genevieve commanded worried that the two would mull her.

Brielle gently pushed the two off her as she got back to her feet wiping off her face. “Very friendly dogs.”

“You are the first one, side from a very select few, they bonded with quickly,” Genevieve chuckled.

They walked back down the hall, Brielle glanced into the door of the drawing room again as they passed. “Who is that man in the picture?” she asked, pausing.

“That’s my father, he passed away thirteen years ago. On his shoulder there is Alaura.”

“He must have really loved that bird.”

“He did. Once he brought her back here, he couldn’t think to depart from her. Not like he didn’t have the money to purchase one. Now my dear, I have a meeting to attend to this morning. Would you be interested in starting right now?”

“I would love to! This would be perfect,” Brielle admitted.

“Excellent. I should be home around four pm, if anything should change, I will phone. Help yourself to whatever in the fridge.”

Brielle nodded mentally going through everything Genevieve told her about the animals, as she escorted her to the door. All day house sitting for this woman, how great can this be? After she closed the door and locked it, she turned around doing a dance. What a perfect job, no human interaction, I get to deal with animals and the house all to myself. Brielle couldn’t help but grin as she made her to the backyard to spend time with the dogs.

Out back, Brielle sat on the steps petting the dogs as the two pushed the other out of the way to get the attention of the new human. Their excitement held no bounds. Finding a ball, Brielle whipped down the yard watching the large dogs chase after it barking as they went. Back and forth Brielle threw the ball watching as they brought it back. Over half an hour, the two finally came back to her exhausted from the running. Satisfied, Brielle took them inside and filled their water dishes and gave them each a treat for a good job.

Moving down the hallway, Brielle went to the aviary with the macaw and parrots “desserts.” Alaura was circling the aviary looking far too agitated by something. Genevieve didn’t explain to Brielle that Alaura got anxious when she left. Getting closer to the door, Brielle placed the grapes in the tongs as she was instructed and held them up to Alaura. The macaw looked to her uncertain as she moved closer. Brielle knew these birds to be friendly to humans. This one was the opposite.

“Good girl, I won’t hurt you. Come get the grape pretty bird.”

After a few more minutes, Alaura came over and took the grapes from the tongs. Brielle had to fight the urge to reach up and pet the bird that is if she didn’t value her fingers.

After feeding the other parrots, Brielle left the aviary and went back down the hall toward the living room. She looked at the bookshelf at the many different titles running her fingers over the spines.

“Hmm…what interesting selections she has.” Brielle moved further down the shelves until she noticed something peculiar. “Who would have expected her to be into the whole wicca thing?” Grabbing one of the books, Brielle sat on the couch and curled up slightly as she opened the text.

Hours had gone by, and Brielle was still immersed in the book. It wasn’t until the grandfather clock in the hallway chimed the hour that brought Brielle out of her musings. How long had she been reading for? She placed the book back on the table as she went to check on the animals. Everything seemed to be going well.

Once she investigated the aviary, she noticed a very distraught Alaura. Raising an eyebrow, Brielle went to the door and opened it a crack.

“Everything is all right, nothing to be scared about,” Brielle said reassuringly.

Once the door was opened, the macaw flew out. Brielle cursed herself as she chased after her through the house. The two large dogs went chasing after the bird and human.

“Alaura come back here!”

The chase continued throughout the entire lower part of the house as Brielle tried to catch it. After some time, Alaura went directly to the office and sat on the desk where notes and books covered the entire surface. Brielle looked on in horror fearing that the bird would poop on the notes.

“Alaura, come on, not on Genevieve’s notes, please come back,” Brielle said as the dogs barked at the bird.

Alaura wasn’t moving from her spot, she looked at Brielle knowingly. Brielle rose an eyebrow as she moved closer to the bird cautiously. Alaura shifted a bit, lowering her head toward the paperwork. Once Brielle got closer, her eyes went wide reading the notes. How to change a bird back to human? What the hell?

Brielle scanned the notes and the books trying to make sense of it. Alaura lifted her claw and placed it on the paper.

“You’re trapped in there aren’t you?”

“Trapped, trapped.”

Brielle let out a sigh knowing this job was too good to be true. Going through each note, and finding whatever she could, Brielle was able to put together what she thought was the way to allow Alaura to be human again. Picking up the Macaw, she placed her on the ground and drew a circle before she chanted an incantation watching as the bird form changed to a young Belize woman.

“No way!”