One Crazy Bird by Becca

CRASH! "Oh no, it's broken something in the lounge!" He rushed into the lounge, and the sight inside made him stop in his tracks. Thinking back to the beginning of the day, Fred remembered how this had all started...

Fred was playing on the computer. He was supposed to be doing his chores, but he didn't care. His mum had gone out to do the shopping, so she couldn't tell him what to do. He was so engaged in the game he was playing he didn't notice when something flew in through the open window and landed on the kitchen bench. It saw the closed window on the other side of the room, in the bit that was Fred's lounge. Thinking it was open, the sparrow flapped its wings and took off, knocking over a vase. CRASH! Shards of purple and blue china flew through the air like razor-edged raindrops. Fred rushed into the kitchen and saw the sad, shattered remains of what had once been his mother's prize vase. "Oh no! Mum's gonna kill me!" he groaned. THUMP! "What was that?" His eyes wandered to the window and there he saw a little brown shape, lying on its back. It hopped to its feet and squawked at him. Suddenly it shot into the air and knocked over and entire shelf of glass ornaments. "I think it's a sparrow." Fred thought.

Fred panicked. "If I don't get this thing soon," He thought, watching it glide to the couch and rip up a pillow, "It's going to wreck the house!" He grabbed the thing nearest to his hand and threw it with all his might... before realizing it was a pillow. It missed the sparrow completely and landed in the sink. After throwing a couple more things he gave up. He decided he'd just open all the doors and windows, completely forgetting his mum was a writer, and she had left the bits of paper that made up her latest story lying around before going to do the shopping. The gale coming through the windows started making the paper blow around, so he had to close the windows before it blew out. Mum's story was scattered across the floor. Fred made a mental note to clean that up.

After a quick glance at the clock he realized he only had half an hour before his mum got home. He panicked and started running around in circles before thinking of a plan. "I'll just go into the garage, grab some birdseed and lure the sparrow outside with it." He said aloud. When he returned to the lounge after hearing something else break,the sight inside made him stop in his tracks, drop the box of birdseed and mutter "Oh, my gosh!" The lounge was a complete bombsite! Shards of vases, dinner plates and cups littered the floor along with torn fragments of his mum's story and ripped-up cushions were strewn across the couches.

The sparrow was perched atop a high shelf, staring at him with empty, black eyes, watching his frantic attempts to clean up the mess. Fred gritted his teeth, muttering, "at least I can finally get this mess cleaned up. No thanks to you!" He added, looking up at the bird and clenching his fists. "If you hadn't come here in the first place, none of this would have happened!" The bird returned his gaze and gave a "Chirp chirp!" Of protest. "Oh, come on, don't deny it!" Fred yelled. "You're the one who wrecked the house!" "Tweet." The bird replied. "Oh, I'm talking to a bird!" He cried, throwing up his arms. After that, both bird and Fred remained silent.

After another twenty minutes of cleaning, Fred heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway. "Mum's home!" Fred, exclaimed, but, looking down at the mess, his face fell as he realized he still had heaps more to clean up. He heard the car door closing and the door into the hallway opening... his mum's footsteps coming up the hallway... she was coming in through the door and she screamed. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" "Er... hi... Mum..." Said Fred feebly. "What... you... happened...?" She stammered, glaring at the mess as though willing it to disappear. Suddenly Fred burst into a rather bad explanation. "Mum... sparrow... vase... pillow... HELP!!!!" He stammered. His mother stared at him. "You know," She said, "I don't want to hear it. Just get this mess cleaned up." "O-Okay" Fred stammered. Then when his mother left the room, he glared up at the sparrow and said, " I hate you." "Tweet."