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Bobby Black Bird
by
Lisa Patton
Bobby Black bird had been searching all morning for something to eat. His tummy was growling so loudly he couldn't hear himself think. Grumble-grumble-grumble. Since he couldn't hear himself speak, he talked out loud to himself. The louder his tummy got the louder he spoke. "If I don't find something to eat soon I'll be twice as hungry and have to speak twice as loudly and search twice as hard for food. Think, think, think!", he said to himself out loud.
"Ah-ha. I always find lots of nice, crunchy crickets around the old tree stump by the pond. I haven't looked there yet today!" Off he flew. All the way there he talked out loud to himself about how scrumptious the crickets would be. The crunchy outside followed by the gooey inside. Sort of an almond flavor if he remembered correctly.
He spotted the pond just ahead. The sight of it made his tummy growl even louder. Grumble-grumble-grumble. So he spoke even louder to himself. "Almost there. I can almost smell those delicious crickets from here."
Meanwhile around the tree stump at the pond, the crickets heard him coming. In fact he was talking to himself so loudly that they heard him a mile away. So before he got too close they scrambled as far as they could get up under the old tree stump. When Bobby Black bird got to the stump he didn't see a single cricket. He got down on his belly and dug as far as he could into the hollow of the trunk. But black birds don't have very long beaks so he didn't get very far. Needless to say, he didn't get a single cricket.
Off he flew feeling frustrated and even hungrier than before. Grumble-Grumble-Grumble went his tummy. He had to REALLY talk loud now to hear himself think. "Worms!" he thought out loud. "Worms would make a nice meal. If I can't have crickets worms would definitely be my second choice. Where could I find some nice plump juicy worms? Mrs. Carter's flowerbed is usually overflowing with them. She keeps her birdbath full out cool fresh water, too!"
Bobby Black bird headed in the direction of Mrs. Carter's yard. He could see it in the distance. The closer he got, the louder his tummy growled. "I can't wait, "he said loudly. So loudly in fact that the worms heard him talking out loud to himself about how he would make a meal of them as soon as he reached the flowerbeds. Upon hearing this, the dug down into the dirt as far as they could get.
When Bobby Black bird reached his destination there were no worms to be found. "I don't understand." He said out loud to himself. "There have always been plenty of nice, plump, juicy worms in Mrs. Carter's flower beds. This just is NOT my day!" Just then he spotted a plump caterpillar on the branch in the rosebush. By this time he was so hungry that he started thinking with his tummy instead of his head. Big mistake! He said to himself out loud, "I've got you in my sight caterpillar and you are not getting away! This is the closest I've gotten to eating all day. Have you any last words to say?"
The caterpillar did not say a word. Oddly enough he didn't even look scared. You see, the caterpillar too had heard Bobby Black bird coming. Which is why he shimmied up into the rose bush onto the thorniest branch he could find. There he sat just looking at Bobby Black bird, knowing he had picked a safe spot.
Bobby Black bird darted towards the rosebush at full force! The caterpillar did not budge. And neither did Bobby Black bird after that. He was stuck in the thorns of the rosebush mere inches away from his planned meal. He could smell how good the caterpillar would taste and he tried to no avail to stretch his neck out far enough to reach it. The caterpillar inched away, down the rosebush and on to other things.
Bobby Black bird was writhing with pain! He squawked and squealed but could not manage to free himself from the unforgiving thorns of the rosebush. Mrs. Carter heard the commotion from her kitchen window where she was setting out bread on the window seal to cool. She ventured out into her flower garden to see what all the ruckus was about. Then she saw him. Poor Bobby Black bird.
She slowly and carefully removed him from the thorns of the rosebush and lovingly placed him in the birdbath to sooth his wounds. As he was recovering in the cool water, she went to the window and pinched a chunk of bread from her freshly baked loaf. She crumbled it up on the edge of the birdbath for Bobby Black bird to enjoy.
Mrs. Carter got such joy from watching Bobby Black bird and from seeing her birdbath put to good use that she put fresh bread crumbs out for Bobby Black bird each morning and joyfully watched him frolic around in her garden each day. And Bobby Black bird certainly didn't mind. This was much easier that searching for crickets, worms or caterpillars!
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