Chickie

Once upon a time one cool, spring day, three brothers were outside playing in their yard. The older of the three thought he saw a frog on the ground, because those boys are always looking for and catching toads and frogs, but upon closer inspection, discovered a tiny newborn bird. They searched and searched for a nest in the nearby Magnolia tree, but no nest could be found. From where did this tiny bird come?

They brought the small creature inside to their mom, and she was very sad to see this helpless bird, because she feared for its very life. But then she had an idea. They knew of a nest in the Crabapple tree, and maybe, just maybe, the mother bird of the two eggs still waiting to be hatched would take care of this little bird, too.

One of the boys climbed the Crabapple tree and placed the tiny bird in the nest next to the two eggs, one of which was just starting to hatch, as its tiny beak was just poking through. The boy climbed down from the tree quickly in the hopes of calming the mother bird who was shrieking from the nearby tree to which she had flown when the boy climbed up.

They had to leave for soccer, but when they returned home nearly 3 hours later, the boy checked the nest and found Chickie there with the two eggs. They all hoped the mother bird was taking care of her adopted baby bird.

The next morning, the boy checked the nest again. This time, he found one newly hatched bird next to the second egg starting to hatch, and no sign of Chickie. What did the mother bird do with it? Nobody knows, although the boys' mother suspected she had kicked it out of her nest. Her worst fears came true. Despite their efforts, they could not save the helpless little bird.

The end.

(I never said it would be a happy ending.)