Every Penguin Has a Song
By angellwings
Eleanor
Summer 2007
Alright, so Nate hated birds. Was that terrible? Jason thought it was. Birds creeped him out. Their movements were sudden and unlike dogs or even cats there were absolutely no signs to tell you what they were thinking. With a dog he could watch the tail or the eyes or the posture and with a cat the back and the ears were important. He knew these things about them, but birds…
Birds had no such tells.
So, you could imagine his discomfort when Jason donated an obscene amount of money to a local zoo and then made Shane and Nate attend a special event at said zoo in his honor. There was going to be a demonstration of the new bird show. (A bird show!) And it got better. Before the show they were invited backstage to meet the birds. (Why would he want to meet the birds? Had none of these people ever watched a Hitchcock movie? Birds were evil!)
Nate jumped as they entered the room where all the birds were waiting for the show. (Why were there so many?) A parrot flapped its wings and squawked at him and Nate quickly jerked away from it. He could tell this was going to end badly. It had to. He was in a room full of birds.
"And before you meet our feathery performers," The Zookeeper said affectionately as she scratched the parrot's ahead. "We actually have another friend we want you to meet. Jason's generous donation allowed us to afford proper corrective footwear for this lady you're about to meet. This way."
"Corrective footwear?" Shane asked in confusion. "For a bird?"
"She was born with a limp. Her foot wasn't developing properly," The Zookeeper explained. "And I'm sure once you meet her you'll understand why that foot was so necessary."
They entered another room where a bank of flowing water waited on the other side. The water led out of the room and into a habitat. Nate looked over at Jason and smiled at the awed look on his face. Nate heard a splash and turned toward the water. A little black and white bird climbed up out of the water and Nate immediately fought a smile.
No, no. He refused to like a bird. And then it started to waddle toward them. The wings or flippers were lifted behind the tiny bird as it walked unevenly toward them and the smile slowly spread across Nate's face. Adorable wasn't a strong enough word for the scene in front of him.
"Meet Eleanor, the Humboldt penguin," The Zookeeper said as she knelt down and reached out for the small bird. "She still has a bit of a limp, but the boot she's wearing allows her to grip and pull herself out of the water so that she can swim and properly enjoy the companionship of the other penguins and their zoo habitat."
She handed each of them a fish out of the metal bucket she held and then motioned for them to feed Eleanor. The penguin was rather impatient for her food. She approached Shane first and nipped at the bottom of his jeans. The zookeeper laughed as Shane backed away and she leaned forward and gently poked Eleanor.
"Hey, hey you. That's rude," She told the bird with a chuckle.
Eleanor backed up and glanced at Shane anxiously. Shane stared at her worriedly as he knelt down and tossed her the fish. She caught it easily and downed it in one gulp. Nate's eyes widened and he chuckled. Jason's head turned and he gave him a surprised look. Nate immediately glared at him defensively.
"What? I'm allowed to laugh."
"Not at birds," Jason whispered with a grin.
"Penguins are clearly a superior species of bird," Nate said with a shrug. He paused for a minute and then shook his head. "Don't tell anyone I said that."
"No one would believe me if I did," Jason told him as he stepped forward and tossed Eleanor his fish. He reached forward and gently petted Eleanor's head. "Well, hello, Eleanor. I think my brother likes you. Which is a huge surprise. He's one grumpy thirteen year old. Just a warning."
The bird made a shrill noise and nuzzled Jason's hand.
"Well," The zookeeper said with a smirk. "She certainly likes you."
It was Nate's turn and he was surprised when the bird came to him. She walked in between his legs and circled one before stopping behind it and hiding there. Nate smiled softly and bent over to look at her. She peeked out from behind his leg and then waddled around the other side. She pointed her nose up toward his and studied him closely for a moment before she made another longer shrill sound. He held out his fish to her and she immediately took it. It was eaten in one bite again and Nate's eyebrows rose. "You must be hungry. That's your third fish in the last few minutes."
Eleanor forced her small head under his hand and nuzzled against it just like she did Jason's. Nate reached toward the bird's small chest and tickled the bird lightly. She made loud short barking noises and wiggled. He laughed at the sound. It truly sounded like a laugh. An uncontrolled laugh.
Alright, so maybe he would allow himself to like one kind of bird. But you'd have to be truly heartless not to like penguins.