Cooberry Coobird the Third

[Cooberry Coobird]

Cooberry Coobird the Third

Age  1 year; 18 in pigeon

Gender  Male

Origin  Altalusia

Occupation  bird adventurer

Nobody loves Cooberry ; - ; His mamma and papa kicked him out of the nest before he was ready. They said, 'Cooberry Coobert Coobird the Third! You flew too high in the sky and did so at night! We told you not to do that. Only owls and bats could handle the moons and the stars. But you just had to fly too high to the Mother, and now look at you. You no longer belong. You take crumbs and call them a sandwich. You take water and try to make tea. What are sandwiches? What is tea? We are street pigeons; the only thing we can know is the kindness of old women, the bite of a cold breeze, and the comfort of our nest. You are no longer like your Mamma and Papa; you're no longer like your betrothed.'

'Oh!' His mamma had cried. 'What will Coolie Cooridge's parents think of us? You've disgraced us! Why couldn't you be more like your brother, Coony? He's just passed his flying exams; he's set to have a bigger nest now to make room for more fledglings.' She wept, and his Papa comforted her, but nobody was there to comfort Cooberry.

'Leave.' His Papa said, and the discussion was over. Cooberry's father was a severe bird, brilliant in his ability to get the most food from grass and handsome enough that old women liked to throw their stale bread at him six times out of ten.

Cooberry turned his back to his weeping mother and frowning father. He turned his head over a wing to look at them one last time, but they shielded their gaze from him. 'Love you, Mamma. Love you, Papa. Tell Coony I love him too.' He left the nest, flying into the night. The stars didn't scare him anymore; even their whispers were comforting.

'What is even love?' He heard his mother cry. 'What a strange word the stars have planted in his little head! His brain will explode. I know it, I know it!'

Written by Silently