Seas of South Africa Read Online Free PDF Page A

piece of rope long enough to reach the floor, and tied it to the bottom of her cage. While I was tying it, she kept her beak open as if she would bite me. When I was done, she climbed halfway down the rope. She seemed to have her eye on Hollie’s pile of ropes and sticks. He looked up at her nervously. I sat down on the floor to watch what would happen next.
    Little Laura worked her way down the rope like an acrobat without much balance. When she was a few inches from the bottom, she stopped, hung upside down, and looked to see if the coast was clear. Then she stepped onto the floor and stood up. She was pretty small. Hollie got up, pretended to ignore her, picked up one of his sticks, and put it on his pile. Little Laura made a kind of cakewalk towards the pile. She reminded me of Charlie Chaplin. I watched Hollie to makesure he wouldn’t suddenly turn aggressive against the little bird. He didn’t. He just looked worried.
    Little Laura eyed the pile of sticks and rope. But every time she got close to a piece of it, Hollie would get up and move it somewhere else. Still, the little bird wouldn’t quit. Eventually, she closed her beak on the end of a small stick and dragged it back towards the rope. That wasn’t easy, because the stick was too big for her. There was no way she could carry it up to her cage. But that didn’t stop her from trying. Once she pulled it to the bottom of the rope, Hollie got up, walked over quietly, picked up the stick, and carried it back. Little Laura opened her beak wide and lunged at him, but he just ignored her. Then, she started the whole thing over again. I got tired of watching, so I got up and made some tea.
    I was sitting on my cot, drinking my tea, and eating an orange, when Seaweed dropped down the portal. He came in like a chimney sweep, with a noisy rustling of his feathers. I jumped to my feet because I knew Little Laura was on the floor. Seaweed liked to come in, check for food, plop down on his spot by the observation window, and be left alone while he slept.
    There was no food in sight, so Seaweed went straight for his spot. But Little Laura stood in his way. It looked like David standing in front of Goliath. I followed Seaweed over and stayed ready to rescue the little bird. Little Laura had her beak open. Seaweed wasn’t impressed with that. He opened his beak and lunged at her as if he were going to swallow her up.
    â€œNo! Seaweed! Don’t!” But before I could grab him, Little Laura lunged back at him, and Seaweed stopped. He leaned forward with his beak wide open, trying to intimidate the little bird. But she reached up and tried to intimidate him right back. I think that impressed him. It was a stand-off. To change the mood, I gave each bird a piece of my orange. That ended the conflict. Seaweed gobbled his in an instant and looked for more. Little Laura picked up hers and began the long climb up the rope to her cage. It was a lot of work. Half way up, the piece of orange slipped from her beak, fell to the floor, and Seaweed gobbled it up. Little Laura hung upside down and just stared. I felt sorry for her then so I peeled another orange and put a couple of pieces in her cage. What a tough little bird.
    But she was afraid of me. She would always open her beak when my fingers were near, or when I’d put fresh water or food in her cage. I’d reach out my hand and say, “Come!” But she never would. And yet I thought she was lonely. She seemed to want Hollie’s company the most. But he didn’t want to have anything to do with her. She would climb all the way down the rope and approach him. She wouldn’t try to take his ropes or sticks anymore; she would just pick at them. But it looked like what she really wanted was his attention. She even approached his tail once, but he didn’t like that, got up and turned around. Then he plopped down, stared at her, and sighed. But she wouldn’t give up.
    I started