A bird decided to make its nest in the tree right outside our house. I think it was a sparrow. Either way, there was a tiny little baby bird within about 2 or three weeks, and our family was thrilled. We never touched it, of course, because we didn't want to freak out the Mummy Bird, and we didn't want to disturb the nest.
Yesterday, Mum noticed that the nest was tilting onto its side. She wanted to go correct it, but Aehshaan and I dissuaded her for fear of causing more harm than actual good. We figured the Mummy Bird would do it herself. It's her duty, after all, isn't it?
Not so. This morning, sadly, we found the poor little thing on the ground right outside the tree. Such a shame, too. I really regret not getting Mum to interfere after all, but at the same time, I'm kind of glad she didn't. Not out of any sadism or anything - merely because right now, she is determined to blame herself (and us, mind you) for the bird's death. If she had gone and done something to the nest, and God still killed the little bird, she would blame herself much, much worse. At least this way there's less pain for her, I guess?
We held a small burial for the bird, in a corner of the garden. It was beautiful, really. It was buried under a tree, with flowers on the grave. I said a few words.
I really hope that little bird does rest in peace. And if it's true that all animals go to Heaven, then all the better. It had a short life, but it was loved for the time it was here.
Maybe the bird's meeting up with Prince and Shadow as we speak. They must be having a good time up there. For those who don't know, Prince and Shadow were two of my dogs. They died a fortnight apart from each other, taken by the same disease - Shadow on the 31st of January, and Prince on the 16th of February.
I may as well use this post to say something about them.
I got Shadow from an old lady who didn't have the time to take care of her. She was about 2 months old when we got her - a tiny little thing, really. Terrified of other dogs (We got our other dog, Rover, on the same day) but fiercely defensive of the property, even at that age. She was very easy to love, too. She was a mongrel, but she didn't eat like one. She picked at her food, and generally got bullied out of eating by Rover. We had to stand and watch to make sure Rover didn't chase her off and eat all the food herself.
As for her name, we knew that Shadow was what you would call a male dog. However, we'd already planned names for our dogs, and eating plans, and everything (we were at that age *grin*). So when we got two females instead of two males, we just decided to keep the name.
We got Prince last year. He was only 6 months old at the time, born February 14th 2011. We brought home him and his sister, Persia, from an aunt who had about a dozen dogs already and wanted to give these two away to good homes. We took them both because we didn't want to separate them. They were our Valentine Dogs.
Prince was lovely. He and Persia were both pitch-black, so that you couldn't see them at all at night. Prince wore a dark red collar, Persia a choker. Yes, they were named for the movie, The Prince of Persia. Haha, that was my idea.
Anyway, a mosquito-ridden disease somehow infected Shadow. I can't remember the name right now, but it affects your heart. Shadow died on a Monday, but I didn't find out about it until the following Wednesday. This was due to my mother knowing how much I loved my dog, and how I would react. I reacted as predicted, of course. I cried for days.
And then we found out that Prince was sick with the same thing that took Shadow, and that he wouldn't make it. I cried about that too, but praying about these things doesn't seem to work. If they're going to go, they're going to go. When Prince died, it still came as something of a shock to us. I think deep down we believed that he would be saved or something - that God couldn't be so cruel as to take both of them from us at the same time.
Persia managed to survive, miraculously. She caught it too. When I say miraculously, I mean because Prince was always the stronger of the two. We didn't actually expect Persia to make it too, but she's a fighter. She did.
I miss my dogs all the time. Even more so now, knowing I won't see them again. But life goes on, and time heals all wounds. Just because the pain of their deaths have faded, doesn't mean the love has. And they will always live on in our memories.
So. Rest In Peace; Shadow, Prince, and little baby bird.
You
No comments:
Post a Comment