The sun was setting on the city of Rio as a brown-skinned pre-teen pulled his bike into a driveway on the outskirts of the city, in a sparsely inhabited area close to the avian conservation centre. The area might as well have been a small jungle with a cottage in the centre due to the dense vegetation. A large population of various species of birds had taken home in the trees. The kid, Fernando as he was called, was currently enjoying his holidays and had taken to frequently go and give a hand at the conservation centre where his adoptive parents worked.
Unfortunately, said parents, namely Linda and Tulio, were currently out of town and on an expedition deep into the Amazonian jungle. They wouldn't let him come along saying it was too dangerous and had (albeit reluctantly) left him under the care of Gloria, the woman Tulio had left in charge of the centre while he was away. On a more joyful note, having to deal with the centre meant Gloria was rather busy and left him (mostly) on his own as long as he stayed within the limits of the centre's protected area (which included his home) and kept her in touch. He was fine with it, being rather used to live on his own what with having lived for a couple years as a stay orphan.
Too bad Gloria insisted on having him eat along with her, he would rather choose what he ate himself but maybe she did have a point about him being too young to be trusted to eat healthy.
Fernando waved at a pair of greenwing macaws passing above, getting a squawk in return. He then entered the house and made a beeline for the living room, plopping down in the couch to watch TV for the rest of the evening. Admittedly, while working at the centre was great and he loved learning about how he could heal birds and be of any help, the rest of his days were rather boring. Linda had found him a school but it was currently the holidays and he had sworn her he wouldn't be found wandering the favelas with his old acquaintances. None of his friends from school was currently in town at that, so this was really only the centre that kept him busy.
Fernando failed to notice the flock of assorted birds watching TV from the windowsill behind him as he watched a football match –Chile against Uruguay this evening- and leafed through a notebook of his in which he kept sketches of birds and tips regarding medical care. Boy did he wish Linda and Tulio were here, as odd as it was for him, he missed them despite the Rocinha favela having gotten him used to solitude.
The match ended with a 2-1 for Chile, and Fernando headed to bed more out of sheer boredom than actual fatigue. Gloria said he would only need to work half the next day at the centre as she was onto a project. She said she would prepare him a meal to heat at home for the evening and made him swear to be extra careful on his own –not that any of the centre's personal was very far at any time, the cottage was in the natural reserve after all-. He would have to find a way to keep himself busy, maybe with Tulio's last Christmas gift.
Looking out the window before turning off the lights and calling it a day, he witnessed the birds of the reserve also tucking in at the same time. Macaws, toucans, and others –with even a couple of spoonbills- had chosen to elect residence around Tulio's cottage. Not to forget the blue macaw family living literally next to them, Tulio and Linda must really have a good reputation among the local bird population.
Fernando rolled over in his bed and fell asleep in short order.
The next day, Fernando was woken up by Gloria knocking on his bedroom's door. He startled and looked at his clock, 8.32, he had slept in, again.
"Sorry Gloria!" He cried out "Coming right now" He said, grabbing a handful of fresh clothes.
"Hurry up sleepyhead!" He heard back "Breakfast's already served!"
That was one thing with Gloria, she would insist on having breakfast with him when she made him work at the centre in the morning so he would "maintain a healthy living habit". Fernando practically ran out his bedroom's door only to be snatched by the collar before he could reach the kitchen. He turned around to see his current caretaker shaking her head with a grin on her face. The bronze skinned woman pointed a thumb in the direction of the bathroom."No teeth, no breakfast" She said mockingly. The kid begrudgingly complied and went to brush his teeth.
Gloria was waiting for him with a breakfast from the nearest bakery in the kitchen. Fernando plopped down in a chair at the table and helped himself to a slice of bread which he copiously covered in jam and butter, downing it all with some juice as Gloria walked him through the day's programme. First treat some lightly injured birds that had been admitted recently, monitor those under care in wing B and then, the best part, helping one of the supervisors, José, with the releases of the day at the watchtower further in the reserve and he would call it a day.
They both walked the rest of the way to the centre; Gloria preferred to leave her Jeep at the cottage to save parking space. As they were leaving, Fernando saw his two favourite birds in the area starting their day as well with their three chicks.
"Hi Blu, hi Jewel!" He greeted with a wave, receiving squawks in return from Blu, Jewel just acknowledged him, busy with managing her own brethren.
Overall his day was rather good as far as the first half went: the birds in treatment at the centre had grown accustomed to him and with the supervision of the staff he could do a pretty good job, managing to take care of the simpler injuries on his own. He thought he had found the right trick and behaviour to treat the birds without upsetting them too much. Then he met with José and helped the middle-aged supervisor loading a jeep with the birds ready for release. The man was a bit rough on the edges but not too much trouble as long as the job was done right.
There weren't that many birds cleared for release, barely a dozen and two of which Fernando had personally helped. José talked him through the paperwork while simultaneously emptying the vehicle.
"I wish there weren't so much forms to go through" He muttered at no one in particular after completing the job.
"You and me both, kid!" José yelled from the top of the tower. "Try as you might, no one in the centre could get Tulio to loosen up about paperwork in as long as he's been here. Man sure loves his statistics."
Fernando joined the older man at the top of the tower with the last cage containing a military macaw. The young male seemed aware of his imminent release and wouldn't stop chattering; if the flock of his brethren on a nearby branch was any indication, his friends were here waiting for him. He opened the cage and rid the bird of the triage bracelet on his leg before carrying him in the palm of his hands onto the balcony. The macaw chirruped happily, braced his wings and took to the sky.
He was quickly met by his flock and they passed overhead with a parting squawk.
"What was that one here for already?"Said José "Sprained wing" The boy answered "Doesn't seem like it's much of a problem anymore; I'm definitely making a sketch of that one later".
It felt good to know his help at the centre could do some good like that. He doubted a bird could survive for long without flight, that macaw had been very lucky to only hurt itself in the reserve. Anywhere else wouldn't have left him much chance to survive. José and Fernando headed back to the centre with the elder giving the boy a lengthy explanation on how to treat leg injuries on a spoonbill and how to prevent infections. Somehow, he managed to present it in a way that kept a pre-teen interested and pay attention to the road at the same time without any apparent effort.
For all his interest in work at a conservation centre, Fernando would be hard-pressed to admit liking the theory much. Practical work he loved, for sure, but a lesson on avian anatomy would have him dozing off within seconds. His caretakers seemed to respect that –he was just a kid after all- and set him toward the more hands-on tasks of the reserve, numerous as they were.
"There we are kid; just don't forget to tell Gloria you're done." José said "Gotta go, still plenty of work ahead of me." The man hurriedly stepped out of the jeep and headed for the opposite wing of the building.
"Ciao José, and thanks for the tips!" Fernando answered, to which the man replied with a grunt and a dismissive wave before disappearing behind a corner.
He pulled his notebook from the back pocket of his shorts and tucked in a note on which he had noted down some of the more useful tips and methods he had just been told, along with a decent looking sketch of a flock of military macaws flying in formation. The little cardboard covered notebook was a gift from Linda upon adopting him and was already well worn and almost full. Thinking about her sent a pang of loneliness coursing through his guts but he carried on.
He passed a handful of lab coat-clad veterinarians as he made his way inside and found Gloria sitting at a table in the cafeteria, her face riveted to her laptop and a BLT sandwich lying forgotten on her lap.
"Hey Gloria, José sent me tell you we're done so... Can I go home now?"
The only response he got from her was a distracted nod as she frenetically began typing. With a shrug he grabbed a Tupperware labelled "Evening / Fernando" that was lying next to her and made his way out. Poor woman was having a lot of difficulties dealing with what was usually Tulio's workload. So Fernando snatched a cheese sandwich from the cafeteria's refrigerator and made his way out.
On his way back home he was met by a cardinal and a finch that seemed rather curious and flew a few circles around him whistling to each other before following him home. They left as he passed the porch and walked the way to his bedroom. Now he just had to find a way to keep himself busy for the rest of the day and he had just the thing on his mind for that. He rummaged through his shelves for it, having to dig into an untidy mess of football memorabilia and discarded schoolbooks before finding his quarry.
Last Christmas Tulio had been gone on a trip to Brasilia on the sanctuary's behalf and he had profited of the occasion to make his Christmas groceries at a local flea market. What he had found for Fernando was a vintage chemistry set. Having had one in his youth he suspected it would be a pretty nice gift.
"Let's see what this thing is all about then." He said as he dropped the box on the living room's table. The opened box revealed a stash of ingredients with one or two Erlenmeyer's, a gas burner and a guidebook which was promptly discarded.
At this moment, one of Blu's chicks flew in, Bia if he recalled it. She was a lean, bright feathered chick and there was hardly a detail that her bright green eyes failed to miss. She perched on the table and gave the guidebook a curious look. Fernando just greeted her with a brief "Hi", slid the book across the table to her and went on with his random chemistry. He decided to trust his guts on that one and placed an Erlenmeyer above the burner.
At some point in time, Tiago slipped inside to watch as well without Fernando noticing. He exchanged a few chirps with his sister and settled not far from the burner, an interested look on his face. Both Bia and Fernando were way too focussed on what they were doing to pay attention. Minutes after his arrival, the last of the chicks, Carla flew through the window. She stopped mid-flight to assess the situation and then promptly landed next to Tiago, still failing to elect a response from either Bia or Fernando.
At this point, he had left the burner run out of gas and kept on adding colourful powders he fished out of the kit, seemingly at random. That earned him a worried glance from Bia who jumped on his shoulder and started pointing toward specific components with her wing. Fernando just shrugged with his free shoulder and complied in silence. The Erlenmeyer was by then filled with a bubbling brownish liquid, obviously scalding hot.
Off to the side were Carla and Tiago, watching too, with the former listening to her IPod. Tiago apparently wanted to listen to music too because he yanked the ear bud away from his sister and emitted a sharp squawk. They both started bickering and entered a tug-of-war for the pod. This also failed to be noticed by the would-be chemistry experts at the other end of the table, who were now giving the simmering result of their "experience" a weird look. The substance could hardly qualify as a proper chemical and was more of a haphazard solution of random products which even an apt scientist would fail to analyze such a mess it was.
It was at this moment that the chicks' mother flew in, having heard the squabble between her children. Jewel also had a mind to tell Bia off for what she was doing but set her sights on the more imminent matter at hand.
Carla kept on pulling with her claw at the IPod on the one side and Tiago had gotten himself stuck in the cord and pulled with his beak at it. The ear buds suddenly came off the jack port and sent them both rolling. The item went flying in the air and landed with a loud noise across the table, blaring music loudly and startling Fernando out of his wits with sudden pop music. That wasn't too good to hear because the boy was holding the chemical container up to his face and he dropped it in surprise. It shattered as it fell on the table and both Bia and Fernando were promptly splashed with boiling hot liquid, the latter being far worse off. He fell on his arse with a sharp cry, having just had most of his left arm touched. Bia fell next to him and the way she held her leg let little doubt as to where she had been hit. Looking at his arm, he was quick to notice the skin taking an unhealthy tint and blisters were already forming in places.
"I have to get to the centre" He said more to himself than anybody in particular and attempted to stand up but he felt dizzy and his vision started to blur. He tried to lean against the table but his movements were sluggish, as if he was wading through a cloud of marshmallow. With a groan, he fell on his side and blacked out.
Jewel hadn't even had the time to start berating her quarrelling before another accident added up to the pile. She heard more than saw glass shatter and did a 180 turn when she heard her daughter cry out.
She was next to Bia the instant she touched the floor, whispering her soothing words and stroking her with her wings. She had a bad burn on her leg and tears in her eyes.
"Shhh, shh, it's alright Bia" Jewel said as she held her sobbing daughter. "We'll get you some water for that, okay?"
Jewel then noticed Fernando's attempt at standing, the boy slurred something she didn't quite make out and quickly collapsed. He seemed in a pitiful state to be honest, but Jewel had her priorities as a mother straight and focused on her own child.
Carla and Tiago hopped over to the edge of the table and gazed down worriedly at the wounded kids. Tiago gulped loudly, feeling a tad guilty over what just occurred. He nudged Carla and nodded silently toward the open window, hoping to make a break for it but his plans were squashed before he could even try as Blu flew in, followed by Rico and Pedro. They must have heard the ruckus.
"Whoa, looks like a bomb went off over here!" commented Pedro with an impressed whistle before landing next to Tiago.
"Yeah, what just happened? And why is Fernando unconscious?" asked Rico. He looked at Blu who had joined his wife's side to comfort his hurt daughter.
"We... had a bit of an... accident" said Carla, very quietly. She looked a bit ashamed herself. Their sister had seemed to be doing alright before they started fighting next to her and Fernando. She was even working alright with the human boy and had clearly been enjoying herself. Well, so much for that.
As bad as things were, they took a turn for the unexpected when Fernando's unconscious body spontaneously erupted in a bright flash. When the light disappeared, all birds in the room gasped: there was nothing left but a pile of clothes in Fernando's place. On the table, they were gaping so widely that Rico didn't notice his bottle cap falling off his head.
Tiago glided down and approached the pile of clothes, much to his parents 'dismay. But Blu's protests died down in his throat when Tiago nudged a lump in the pile – which was rising and falling in a distinct manner -. Blu's youngest pulled the shirt at the top of the pile aside to reveal... an unconscious blue spix chick, about as old as Blu's children.
Thunk-There was the sound of Pedro fainting outright, but that went unnoticed by the rest. They stared for a few moments before Bia broke the silence, her voice a mix of pain and bewilderment.
"I haven't gone crazy from pain, have I?" That snapped everyone out of their daze. Carla, Tiago and Nico gathered around the chick.
"No you haven't sweetie..." Answered Jewel "No, you haven't..."