The TEASING BIRD

(part 1)

The Teasing Bird was one of six eggs that hatched near the top of a tall tree in Central America. "Look at that one," he heard his mother groan, "it's so puny!" Those were the first words he ever heard. Yes, the Teasing Bird was rather small, about the size of a quarter when he was first hatched. But that wasn't his fault! And it wasn't his fault that his feathers were mostly green. (All of his brothers and sisters had fashionable red feathers.) It wasn't his fault his beak grew very long (all the other birds had cute little beaks). None of this was his fault! It certainly didn't mean he was a bad bird. Still, before long, nearly everyone in the forest was teasing the Teasing Bird.

Of couse, no one called him the Teasing Bird back then--his name was Hector. Unfortunately, no one called him that, either. They called him "shrimpy" and "beak-boy" and because he was green, "fungus-face". The Teasing Bird tried to laugh it off. He'd force a smile and joke about his beak, too. But deep inside, all this teasing really, really hurt.

One day some people came into the rainforest, three men carrying cages and nets. Hector had been warned about these strangers, men who captured birds in their nets, stuffed them into cages and then hauled them out of the jungle. No one knew what happened to the birds after these men made off with them, only that they were never heard from again. When the birds saw them coming they all flew to safety at the tops of the trees, where the men couldn't possibly reach them.

All except the Teasing Bird.

(To Be Continued)