Ichi

That's Ichi the Little Green Bird Laila's holding in her hand. A little too tightly, I fear. But nothing to worry. Ichi survived Laila's loving grip with all feathers and bones in the right places.

We 'adopted' Ichi from the vendor at the back of the Antipolo Church last Sunday. He charged P20 for the frail-looking but feisty thing.

Of course Laila loved him! She loved Ichi so much she insisted on having him join us at the table--on the table rather--when we stopped at Padi's for lunch. I was willing to go along with it until Ichi pooped and left a mustardy drop on the surface where we'd be eating.

Ichi and his bamboo cage were relegated to hang from the back of an empty chair beside Daddy after that.

The plan was to set Ichi free the day after we got him. Laila wasn't too keen on letting Ichi go home to Mommy Bird (the red parrot from Manila Zoo) but was in the process of relenting. It was to be an elaborate Ichi Fly Away Home Ceremony. We were liberating Ichi at sunrise, or as soon as we woke up, from the garage and away from all the stray cats prowling the building.

But Daddy and I forgot. So what I did later that morning was take Ichi out of his cramped cage--it was just a little bigger that my palm--and transferred him to a shallow basket. He's too young to fly away, I told myself.

I was wrong. As soon as Ichi saw an opportunity, he flapped his teensy-weensy wings violently and soared away. Fortunately, the windows and doors were closed so he wasn't able fly outside.

Laila had a blast watching the Ates try to catch Ichi, who eventually perched on the living room light. That's when Ate Janet caught him and he ended up in Laila's loving hand.

I'd clipped open a hole in Ichi's original cage, which was impossible to repair, so I settled in keeping him in the basket with a mesh placemat as covering. We left Ichi's new home hanging in the kitchen.

A few hours later, Ichi was gone. The rascal!

Apparently, Ichi's new holding pen was just too easy to escape. I was at work when all this happened but learned that night that Laila blamed Ate Janet for the daring daylight jailbreak. My assertive burst of gunfire, ehem, sunshine tried to hit Ate with her hand--I can't recall is she was successful--while bawling about her lost pet.

Poor Laila. She was a proud and loving pet owner for only a little more than 24 hours. At least we have her and Ichi's photo to paste on her baby book under 'First Pet'.

But it was just as well that Ichi escaped. Laila would've been devastated had he gone to Bird Paradise while in our care. He's now either home in the wild or, heaven forbid, being digested by one of the neighborhood felines. As far as I know, Ichi lost only a feather--one Laila plucked--during his stay with us.

Laila has fond memories of Ichi. Up to now she gets a kick from telling stories about how Ichi flew around the house, the Ates giving chase, and Ichi sitting on the living room light. Asked where Ichi is, Laila says he's gone home to Mommy Bird.