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from Contest #5

A boy with a parrot on his shoulder was walking along the railway tracks.

The parrot’s feathers were bright red and glistened in the late afternoon sunlight.  From my perch I might not have noticed the boy at all, but the parrot shone bright against the deep, dark shadows of the trees outlining the tracks.

Jimmy had gone back to the car to get his portable radio, and I sat alone opening my second bottle of beer.  The cap twisted off in my hand.

It was the last week of summer before college started, and Jimmy and I had made a habit of stopping at the lookout on our way home from the amusement park to split a six pack.  Jimmy worked on the rides as an assistant to the mechanic and I worked the games. 

‘Ah man, did you see Sharon today?’ Jimmy asked, radio in hand.  ‘You know she’s going to miss you.’

Sharon was a junior and worked the concession stands, and was a piece of constant torment for me.  Jimmy was convinced she loved me.  I wasn’t so sure.

‘No I didn’t notice,’ was my response. 

Jimmy and I were the same age, but Jimmy wouldn’t be attending college in the fall.  When I asked him about it, he shrugged it off, explaining that it wasn’t for him and I didn’t push him too hard about it. 

‘Yeah, well she noticed you.  You should take her out before you leave, just once man.  Tap that.’

I couldn’t help but laugh.  The idea of tapping anything belonging to Sharon really didn’t do a whole lot for me, but I didn’t tell him that.  Jimmy sat down on the log beside me and turned on the radio, the twang of an electric guitar filled the silence. 

The lookout wasn’t much more than a dirt patch just off the main road, overlooking the river and the railway tracks behind it.  The water below was dark and muddy.  Jimmy grabbed another beer.

‘Hey!  You see that.  Look out there, it’s a kid with a bird on his shoulder.’

‘A parrot. ‘ I corrected him.  ‘It’s a parrot on his shoulder.’

‘Yeah a parrot, a bird, same thing.  It’s just like those ones that you give away.’ Jimmy took a swig of his beer.

It hadn’t occurred to me, but he was right.  One of the stuffed prizes I gave away was a giant red parrot.  However, you had to make all three softballs into the milk can to win one of those, and that almost never happened.

‘Where do you think he’s heading with that bird on his shoulder?’ Jimmy asked.  By now the boys back was to us as he continued to walk slowly along the railway tracks almost out of sight at the river’s bend.

‘I was wondering the same thing,’ was my response.

***

‘So tomorrow’s your last day?  Are you excited to get out of here?’  Jimmy asked. 

The six pack sat empty at our feet as we nursed the last of our beers.  The sun was beginning to set behind the trees and cast long shadows on the water and the tracks.

‘I don’t know.  I guess I am.’

The truth was I hadn’t really given it much thought.  College was just the next step in what seemed like a predetermined path, and I embraced it as much as the previous steps, blindly.  I guess I really just didn’t know what to expect.

‘My parents are excited, I guess.  My dad went there, you know.  That’s where he met my mom.’ 

I’d seen the pictures and heard the stories, the times of their life, or so they’d have me believe.  Most of my friends were staying local and the thought of starting over somewhere new and so far away was hard to imagine.

‘But yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fun,’ I shrugged, ‘different at least.’

I drowned the last of my beer.

‘You ready to get out of here?’

‘Yup,’ Jimmy answered, doing the same and we left.

***

Jimmy drove an old baby blue Ford truck, passed down to him from his older brother.  The windows were down as we cruised along the winding road parallel to the river.  It was dark now and the swooshing from the windows was only broken up by the occasional passing headlights.

‘I think I’m going to stick around at the park.  They’re open through the fall and say they can use the help.  Maybe next year I can take over as mechanic.’  Jimmy spoke loudly.

I nodded lulled by the curving road and bouncy ride.

‘Yeah.  If you’re around next summer you gotta come visit.  I know at least one person that’ll be glad you did.’  He laughed, elbowing me in the ribs as he did.

‘You mean besides you?’  I answered sarcastically. 

Pulling up to the old truss bridge, Jimmy slowed the truck.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked.

‘You see that?’ he pointed up at the bridge. 

‘See what?’

‘There!’ he pointed again, this time turning off the road at the foot of the bridge.

At the strut closest to the beginning of the bridge was a small mass.

‘That isn’t what I think it is!?’ I exclaimed.

‘Yeah, man.  I think it is.’  Jimmy got out of the truck and walked over to the bridge.  I followed behind him.

As we got closer I could make out the mass.  And sure enough, it was the parrot, peering down at us.

‘Oh my god.  What in the hell is that bird doing there!’ Jimmy was beaming.

The parrot , seeing Jimmy below, became frantic, bobbing side to side. 

‘Stop Jimmy.  You’re making it nervous.’  The parrot puffed its feathers. 

‘How do you think it got there?  You see that kid anywhere?’  Jimmy asked, standing now directly under the parrot.

It was dark now and looking around I didn’t see anyone. 

‘I don’t know.  Maybe it flew away.  I don’t see the kid around.  What are you going to do?’  I asked.

Jimmy walked to the metal rigging and began climbing.  Looking over his shoulder he shot back, ‘I’m going to get it.’

From the road the bridge was at least fifteen feet tall.  However the metal rigging crisscrossed the whole way up and Jimmy had little problem making it to the top.  At the top was a long narrow beam and the parrot stood in the center.

‘Be careful!’  I shouted but Jimmy took little noticed. 

Reaching with first his left hand and then his right, he slowly laid himself down across the beam.  Entirely flat now, his extended arm fell just short of the parrot. 

At first it bobbed away, not sure what to expect from this outstretched hand.  But Jimmy cooed and cawed, and the parrot became noticeably relaxed.  Its feathers settled as it looked directly at Jimmy.

‘Here you go boy, that’s it, this way,’ Jimmy coaxed the parrot.

He voice went softer and softer, falling to a whisper.

‘That’s it boy, there you go.  I got you.’ 

The parrot responded and began walking slowly towards Jimmy.  It hesitated as it reached his hand, but then quickly made its way beside his head.   Jimmy just grinned as the parrot settled comfortably on his shoulder.

***

‘So really, what are you going to do with it?’ I asked, the windows now up because of our new passenger.

‘Who him?’ he chuckled, the parrot still perched upon his shoulder.

‘What do you mean,’ he continued, ‘he’s yours.  Consider it my going away gift.’

‘You’re kidding,’ I responded, thinking he was kidding.  ‘What am I going to do with a parrot?’

‘The hell if I know,’ he responded.  He wasn’t kidding.

***

The next day at work, my last, I brought the parrot with me.  By now I had given it a name, Blue, and I wasn’t sure how my parents would react being left alone with Blue, or vice versa for that matter.  My boss was cool with it, or at least he pretended to be, though he may have just been grateful it was my last day.

Blue was a hit.  All day he stood perched on my shoulder, playing with customers, almost egging them on.  As they would toss the softballs he’d become giddying, ruffling his feathers if they made it, and bobbing his head up and down if they missed. 

And the customers loved it.  Families gathered a few deep around the softball stand to get a peak at the parrot dancing on my shoulder.  Fathers lined up to toss softballs as their families rooted them on, oohing and aahing at each make and each miss.  They all cared more about Blue’s reaction than winning his oversized stuff brethren, dangling above our heads. 

Jimmy stopped by throughout the day, to check up on his bird.  He hung back behind the crowd and nodded his approval, his jeans and his t-shirt covered in grease. 

***

‘What’s his name?’

I was closing up my stand, and didn’t notice Sharon behind me.

‘You’re friend there, what’s his name?’ she asked again.

Sharon was cute, Jimmy was right about that.  Her brown hair was short, chopped right above her shoulders, and her navy blue concession stand polo hung loosely from her young frame, like a boyfriend’s shirt or a father’s.  Her nose and cheeks were freckled from long days in the sun.

‘Oh, sorry, this is Blue,’ I responded matter-of-factly. 

‘Blue, huh?  He doesn’t look like a Blue,’ she shifted her weight, studying both me and the parrot.

‘Don’t tell him that,’ I confided, ‘he might be sensitive,’ I smiled.

She laughed, lightly, baring just the faintest white teeth.

‘So are you taking him with you?’ she asked.

I turned to lock the shuddered stand, the last time that summer, and realized I didn’t have a plan.

‘I’ll tell you what, I hadn’t thought about it.  I’m not even sure I can have a pet at school.’

‘Well he’s a beautiful parrot,’ and with that she reached out her hand. 

Without hesitation, Blue stepped from my shoulder onto her hand.  She held arm outstretched, as he walked along, his claws leaving white footsteps along her bare forearm.

‘He tickles,’ she cooed as Blue settled on her shoulder. 

It was almost five o’clock and I had agreed to meet Jimmy in the parking lot for one last afternoon at the lookout. 

‘I’ll tell you what,’ I said, ‘you keep him.  I can’t bring him with me.’

Her face changed, became confused.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean you take him, he needs a home and I can’t take him with me.’

‘I can’t do that.  I don’t know anything about parrots,’ she responded almost breathless.

Blue bobbed gently on Sharon shoulder, nestling his head in her hair.

‘Talk to Jimmy,’ I told her, ‘he knows everything you’ll need.’

‘Jimmy?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, Jimmy,’ I said beginning to walk to the parking lot. 

She started to speak again, but I interrupted.

‘Just promise me you’ll look after him while I’m gone.’

I started to trot out to the lot.  I looked back one last time to see Sharon petting Blue upon his head.  He cooed in response.

***

Out in the parking lot Jimmy was waiting.

‘Where’s the bird?’ he asked.

‘A friend promised to look after him,’ I shrugged and jumped in his truck.

back to Contest #5