Page 18 - Animal Kin

Gimlet as they walked by and asked in Spanish if they could hold him. They sat with me for a while and I tried to answer their questions about the bird- meeting people was one rea- son I had wanted to bring him with me. He didn’t always like other people but he was friendly with these boys. After they left, I let Gimlet stand on top of his cage while I read.
Suddenly, a bunch of seagulls began swooping around us. This scared Gimlet and without hesitation he took off- right straight over the Pacific Ocean. I ran behind him to the edge of the water, calling his name but he just kept going- a few feet above the water, flapping his wings so hard. It was difficult to see well with the glare but it seemed that he was heading slightly to the north- toward the rocky point. I ran up the beach, my heart pounding with fear that he wouldn’t be able to fly very far and would end up in the waves.
Once on the rocks, I called and called his name but
the sound of the waves on the rocks was so loud that my voice didn’t carry very far. And when I looked at the crash- ing waves hitting the rocks, I knew he didn’t really stand a chance. I stood there anyway, my heart so heavy. Right then, I saw the two boys that I had met on the beach running toward me. One began shouting about my “pajarito”- my lit- tle bird. I couldn’t even begin to explain that he had flown