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Last Night :: Every Night :: Tomorrow Night
a visit from the stork
2001-10-22
My mom and I stood in the backyard, when I saw a great, broad-winged bird alight on the cedar deodora which has since been cut down. It was magnificent, grey against the blue sky. I excitedly pointed it out to mum. We tried to make out what type of bird it was. When it took off again, it looked something like a giant owl. A closer look as it circled low overhead, I said, "I think it's a pelican." It seemed to have a great wattle and a long pointed beak. We noticed that it had been pinioned... the terminal section of one wing had been removed, a more permanent surgical procedure to prevent a bird from flying. However, this giant bird flew quite well, almost as in slow motion, sort of like a heron, with shallow, slow dips of its wings. It alighted on the fence and was joined by three others; one as large as it, and two smaller with juvenile plumage. They were huge. The two adults were as large as a full-grown man, with a wicked looking beak, bald head and harsh black eyes. I thought they must be malibu storks, and they were dangerous. Mom and I started to get out of there, quickly. Mom grabbed a hose, and as the first bird, a giant male, started coming at us, I turned it on him full blast. For a moment he was pushed back, but then he lunged, angry. We screamed and ran, chased by the massive, agressive stork. We had to climb over the fence at the side of the house, and though I cleared it quickly, my mom had more difficulty as she got caught on the top. I took the hose and sprayed the stork again, as it was about to get her. It looked like a angry man with dark skin, roaring, but it was a stork. We cleared the fence and went to the front yard. We caught dad on the way and told him it was dangerous. I ran into the trailer on the other side of the house and got the cordless phone, though I was a little confused when I saw it as to whether it would work or not. As I was leaving, I remembered I'd need the address book, so I quickly grabbed the yellow pages from the shelf. I met a young girl on the way out. She was there for my sister's birthday party. I told her she had to come around to the front and we would keep her safe. Out front we were gathering all the guests of the party, and Jess, from inside the house, which was dubbed unsafe. There was a baby panda, only the size of a kitten, which I petted. The guests were a diverse group, many younger kids of four or five. I began to look for the zoo in the phone book, since I thought the storks were malibu storks, a very agressive species kept at the zoo. I thought perhaps they had escaped. I looked under "Z" but it wasn't there. I looked under "W" for Washington Park Zoo, but didn't expect to find it there. I only had the second yellow pages, and the real names of the zoo, Metro Washington Park Zoo as it used to be called, and Oregon Zoo, were not in it. I finally found it and dialed. I walked over so I could see the fence. I told them it was an emergency, and began to describe the birds. I said they were man-sized and dark grey. They didn't have webbed feet, but rather three toes pointing forward and one back, anisodactyl, and didn't look like the grasping claws of raptors. When I said they were pinioned, the guy on the phone told me they were indeed malibu storks, and the zoo would send someone out to get them. I related this information with relief to my family, and walked back towards the mailbox. I found my glasses shattered in pieces on the cement. My mom told me that Jason had run them over with a great wagon he had, when I left them on the ground. Inwardly, I groaned. I imagined they shattered like they had because the frames were plastic. I picked up the pieces. One lense was almost intact. I wondered how much new glasses would cost, knowing I owed my mom money for some vet bills, and debated how much I really needed them. I threw the fragments away.
Last Night :: Every Night :: Tomorrow Night
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