A Search for Freedom: The Story of How Sir Abernethy Lost 2 Birds
Updated: Aug 5
(This is the story I submitted to the 4h county fair for Creative Writing.)
Sir Abernethy's rare and interesting bird museum had acquired a new acquisition. Sir Abernethy was very happy. The new acquisition was less happy. She was a mandarin duck, and her name was Janet. And she was set on escape.
She had one ally, a friend she had made since her arrival: a red kite named Toby, who lived in the cage opposite hers. All day long people would walk down the hallway and peer in at them and they were sick of it. They couldn't escape when they were fed because the food was just pushed in small slots. They tried chewing through the bars, but that didn't succeed, so they had to devise a more daring plan.
One day, they suddenly dropped dead. Both of them.
But not really. When word reached the manager (Sir Abernethy), he came to remove them. When the cages were opened, they both fluttered out into the hall! He tried to grab them, but they dodged and flew down the hall, over the heads of the startled visitors.
But they were far from home free. They still had to get out of the building. They reached the end of the hall and pushed together through a 'staff only' door.
"Now where to?" asked Toby, gasping.
Janet, who hadn't really planned this far ahead, said, "Um... through here."
They went a bit farther in, the two birds walking close together, until there was a bang as a flustered employee pushed open the door. He was searching for them!
"Janet, I think it might be wise to hide!" said Toby, and he pulled her into a pile of rags. Toby quickly buried himself.
Janet was less quick. Her back half stuck out as the man walked by. Luckily, her grayish feathers blended in with the grubby rags, and he passed without noticing.
They continued down the dimly lit hallway with walls of shelves on both sides. The shelves mainly seemed to hold cleaning supplies and different sorts of bird feed. They pushed through a door at the end of the hall and found themselves in another public room, this one bright and sparkling. The room was round, and the walls were covered with a tiled mosaic showing birds. More birds were on display in this room, but not live ones. These ones were dead and stuffed. Some were hanging on lines from the ceiling as if flying. But none of this concerned Janet and Toby. They were looking at the large hole in the wall that led to the outside!
“Come on!" cried Toby.
The two birds took off and flew out the – Thunk! Toby hit the glass and slid to the floor. Janet turned sharply and came down to land beside him. Neither of the two birds had much experience with windows. Janet had lived in a lovely marsh before she had been caught, and Toby had flown free over a french woodland.
While they were both laying there, two people came in. One was a disagreeable looking lady, and one was a small boy named Oliver. The lady happened to be Oliver's aunt, and she was not a very nice person. Janet and Toby sat frozen while the two looked around the room.
"Look. These two must have fallen down,” said Oliver, pointing to Toby and Janet.
"Oliver, you're always saying such boring and obvious things. Just keep your mouth shut,” commanded The Aunt as she made to pick up Janet.
Janet bit her finger. Not too hard, but The Aunt wailed and flailed. Janet and Toby fluttered up into the air.
Oliver stared in utter amazement and joy, like he had never seen two stuffed birds come to life and bite his mean aunt before (which he probably hadn't).
Janet and Toby legged it (or rather, winged it) into the next room, leaving The Aunt and Oliver behind. They were in luck. This room was the entry/exit to the building! They made for the door. But there was something they did not know.. Sir Abernethy had a safety device installed, in case birds ever escaped.
There was a camera above the door, and when it identified a bird, it would dump down bread. It would only work to stop the non-predator birds escaping, of course. That is what it did now.
Janet stopped. She started to munch the bread. Ducks love bread, and Janet was no exception.
"Come on, Janet! They're coming this way!" said Toby, trying to tug her away. The sound of many hurrying footsteps was indeed getting closer.
"Juft af sfoon af I finif all fis bread," said Janet, beak full.
"We don't have time for that, they'll catch us! Don't you want to live free in a pond somewhere?"
No response.
"Alright, then do it for me. I'm not leaving without you, and I'll be caught too."
That stopped her. She swallowed and said, "Alright, let's go!"
The two friends together pushed the rotary door, and flew off into the sunlight and fresh air. A few seconds later, the staff burst into the entry room, but they saw nothing and went to go search somewhere else. And so Janet and Toby were free!
Janet found a nice pond to live in with some other friendly ducks, and Toby lived in the woods nearby, and they visited each other lots. They were never held in captivity again, and they both lived happily ever after. Oh, and often people would come to the pond and throw bread to the ducks, which made Janet very happy indeed.
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