It was a normal day at the Anger Management Class with Matilda. Class was just starting and all the birds were already there.
"Hello everyone!" Matilda greeted in her normal cheery voice, "We have a new bird joining us today! So let's all make her feel welcome."
"Alright, a new bird!" Chuck said.
"Aw man," Bomb said, "If I had known, I might have brought something. Like poetry or cookies or something."
"Hello?" A voice called from the other room, "Is this the right place?"
"Oh, that must be her!" Matilda giggled and stood up, going into the other room, "Hi there! Welcome! Right this way, right this way."
Matilda came back in the room with a bright green hummingbird. She had her long head feathers pulled back in a ponytail and was holding a bottle of Cherry Soda with a straw in it. She seemed jumpy and hyper; she couldn't stand still.
"Why don't you take a seat?" Matilda told her, "I think there's an open one next to Chuck."
Chuck waved quickly and pointed out the open seat to the new bird. She bounced over and sat down, legs crossed. She took a sip of her Cherry Soda, her foot bouncing quickly on the pillow she sat on.
"Hi! I'm Chuck, great to meet you," Chuck said quickly.
"Hello," The girl waved with a big smile, "I am Izzy."
"My name is Bomb," Bomb said.
"I'm Red, and the big guy is Terrence," Red said. Terrence grunted at the mention of his name.
"Don't talk much, do ya?" Izzy said. She seemed to be talking nearly as fast as Chuck, "That's ok! I love talking so I can make up for anyone silence!"
"She's like a second Chuck," Red whispered to Bomb.
"Well Izzy, my name is Matilda," Matilda said, "And it's great to have you here. Why don't you start by telling us why you're here? Not that we're judging, just to know."
"Ok, well, see, I get angry easily," Izzy began quickly, sipping on her Cherry Soda between sentences, "I have anger issues. Something gets me angry in the slightest I kinda loose control. Sometimes I throw stuff, sometimes I just scream. Depends. Once a flipped a table over!"
"Wow," Red said, "So why are you here, like, specifically?"
"So I think it was something with putting someone in danger or something," Izzy said off-handingly, "I don't really remember. 90% of the time I'm the happiest bird, though! I love making new friends. I just can't handle anger."
"Well that's why you're here," Matilda said, "Who else wants to share why they're here? So Izzy doesn't feel so isolated. Red?"
"Oh, me?" Red asked, "Well, I mean, I don't think I have anger issues...but I was delivering a cake for this kid's birthday party, see? And so what, I'm a little late, and the cake's a little ruined. I guess I got a little mad at the dad and I kinda slammed the cake in his face."
Izzy started giggling.
"Well how about you, Bomb?" Matilda said, "Wanna tell your story?"
"So um, sometimes I have the tendency to, well, blow up," Bomb said.
"So you get angry?" Izzy asked.
"Well, sorta," Bomb said, "When I get mad, I actually explode. Like a bomb!"
"Wicked!" Izzy breathed.
"I know, right?" Chuck agreed, "It's the coolest thing!"
"So what about you?" Izzy asked him, "Haven't heard your story yet. And I doubt the big guy is gonna share."
"Ok, so I'm zipping around town, you know, doing my thing," Chuck began, "Why this police officer pulls me over. Simple speeding ticket! That's it! Should I really be here? That's not anger!"
"Chuuuck," Matilda said, sort of like a warning.
"Alright, alright," Chuck said, "I may have messed up his office, stolen his wallet, and dropped ice cream on him." He looked at Matilda, who looked a little peeved, "Ok! So maybe it...wasnt...ice cream."
"Haha, sweet!" Izzy laughed, "That sounds so fun! I think I've actually seen you around town before."
"Wouldn't be surprised," Chuck said, "Everyone knows who Chuck the Speed Demon is!"
"So everyone, let's start our activity for the day!" Matilda said, "Today we'll be pretending to be different animals."
"Ooooh, I like this class," Izzy said. Her talon started tapping faster in excitement.
"Channeling our anger through playing pretend," Matilda smiled, "Pretending to be something else can help control yourself."
The birds were all spread out throughout the room. They were in pairs, trying to guess what animal their partner was pretending to be. The teams were Matilda and Terrence, Red and Bomb, and Chuck and Izzy. Bomb was holding his wings over his beak in a trunk-looking way. He sounded like a trumpet.
"Uh, hippo," Red guessed, "Dinosaur with a cold?"
"No, I'm an elephant!" Bomb sighed, "That was obvious!"
Terrence was standing still, making a continuous grunt sound.
"A cow?" Matilda guessed, "OH, oh, a bull!"
Terrence nodded and Matilda cheered for herself.
"OK ok, what am I?" Chuck said before speeding around the room.
"A cheetah!" Izzy said. Chuck shook his head and ran faster, "A hawk? No, Peregrine Falcon!"
"Yes!" Chuck said, skidding to a stop, "Falcon, that's it! Ok, your turn."
Izzy started meowing and rolled her tongue to make a purring noise.
"Easy, a cat!" Chuck said.
"Corrrrrrect!" Izzy beamed, rolling the r's like a pur.
After class...
"Wow, that class was fun!" Chuck was saying to Red and Bomb. The three of them were walking off to go eat.
"Yeah, it was the bomb!" Bomb joked.
"Hey guys! Guys!" Izzy quickly caught up to the three birds, sipping her Cherry Soda, "Where're you going?"
"We were gonna go grab a bite to eat," Red said.
"Yum, can I come?" Izzy asked.
"Actually, it's only us g-" Red began, but Chuck interrupted him.
"Sure, of course!" Chuck said.
"Awesomeness!" Izzy bounced, walking along with them, "So we're we going?"
"McDuck's," Bomb answered.
"I love that place!" Izzy said, "It's my favorite restaurant."
"You know where it is?" Chuck asked.
"Of course!" Izzy scoffed, "I go there all the time!"
"I'll race you there!" Chuck said.
"You're on!" Izzy agreed. She took a large sip of her Cherry Soda and sped off. Chuck ran after her, speeding ahead. As they passed a police officer, Izzy sped up just enough to be right next to Chuck. He ended up beating her there.
"Wow, you're pretty fast," Chuck said. He heard the blaring noise of the police officer. Groaning, Chuck turned around to get a speeding ticket slapped into his wing, "Oh COME ON!"
The police officer walked off and Chuck turned to Izzy, who was leaning against the restaurant wall and drinking her soda.
"How come you didn't get a ticket?" Chuck asked, "You were almost as fast as me!"
"You just have to learn how to stay unnoticed," Izzy said. Chuck flashed back to when they were passing the officer.
Everything was slowed down as we see Chuck and Izzy pass the officer. Izzy sped up right next to Chuck, on the other side of him. From the officer's point of view, all he could see was Chuck. He couldn't see the bright green hummingbird behind him.
"How did you...?" Chuck remembered what happened, but was still in shock.
"You're fast, but speed won't get you everywhere in life," Izzy chuckled, "You need to be able to think." She tapped the side of his head, "If you can think, you'll be able to get out of getting those tickets."
"Hey guys," Red said. He and Bomb had caught up with the two.
"Hiya!" Izzy waved, "Come on, let's get inside! I'm starving and I'm all out of Cherry Soda."