Chapter 1

Ask any human, or animal of the forest, and they're bound to tell you that miracles really do happen in Rio. Both will tell you about the friendly people, the beautiful scenery, and the diverse ecosystem of plants and animals that surround the city. If you ask the animals, however, they will tell you even more. They will explain how one day, the normalcy of Rio was changed forever, when a bird by the name of Blu, and his owner Linda, traveled to Rio in order for Blu, a Blue Macaw, to mate with the only known female Blue Macaw left, Jewel, to save their species. They'll go on to tell you about the journey they endeavored, from escaping from the hands of smugglers, to defeating an evil Cockatoo named Nigel. They may even tell you about how Linda falls in love with an ornithologist named Tulio, although the animals of the forest tend to stay out of the humans' business.

What matters most to them, however, is what they say when asked, "What happened to Blu and Jewel?" They will tell you a story of true compassion, where Blu dove from a plane, without the ability to fly, to be with Jewel one last time before they both died. (Jewel's wing was broken, rendering her flightless.) Through a miracle, they say, Jewel kissed Blu, creating in his heart a feeling that was so overwhelming that he instantly gained the ability to fly, in order to save the one he cared about. Blu and Jewel returned to Linda and Tulio, who then built a sanctuary to protect the animals of the forest from smugglers. They adopted an orphan boy named Fernando, who helped them find the birds again. Blu and Jewel went on to have three children, named Ramon, Bruno, and Gabriela. Once Jewel's wing healed, she and Blu were released into the sanctuary to live their lives as birds of the wild. Some eyewitnesses claim to have seen the group of friends flying over Rio, with the humans and Luiz, the bulldog, following on hang gliders. From there, no one has said much about their lives since the incident.


Digressing, the lives of Blu, Jewel, and all of their friends continued after they appeared to ride off into the sunset. Of course, it was getting late, and the children would have to be put to bed.

"Um," Blu broke the silence of the group as they flew through the air, "shouldn't the kids be sleeping by now? I've read that the average baby requires somewhere in the vicinity of 10 to 13 hours of sleep."

"Oh lighten up," Jewel replied, smiling. "They're having fun! But you're right; they should be put to bed soon. After all, tomorrow's the big day!"

"Um, what big day would that be?" Blu said as he stared at Jewel, puzzled.

"I haven't had a full day of flying since, since…"

Jewel's voice trailed off as her big baby blue eyes looked away from Blu, her face blushed, and a small tear could be seen running down her neck.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Blu said as he stopped with Jewel the kids, as they hovered in mid air. Nico, Pedro, and Rafael stopped moments later after they realized Blu and Jewel had stopped. "Since what?"

"…Since the day you saved my life," Jewel finally added as she tried to put a smile on her face, but hiding it in a way from Blu.

"Well," Blu stuttered as he stared at his partner, "Well, I mean…" He simply couldn't put his words together. He was truly a sucker for Jewel's perplexing bright blue eyes and perfect body. Images of the first time they ever met flashed through his mind, and he became rather weak, thrown off his feet the same way he was at that moment, which seemed like an eternity ago. Contrary to him, it was only a few weeks.

"And this," Jewel said as she got closer to Blu, "is why I love you, pet."

Blu realized her tease but had no time to say anything philosophical, as she leaned in and kissed him, unexpectedly, in full view of every other bird there, including their kids.

"Ew!" the three kids yelled in unison.

"Yep," Rafael proclaimed as he, Nico, and Pedro stared awkwardly at them. "That's my boy." He proceeded to laugh.

"Never thought it could happen," Nico said to Rafael, "could you?"

"Well I figured," Rafael replied, "it was only a matter of time. It's not like they could've found anyone else right?" He laughed again. "Hey guys, it's been great and all, but I should probably get going. Eva will be all up in my grill if I stay out here any longer. All my kids, they're so pesky. We had 'em tested, you know. They got some kind of disorder."

"They sick or somethin'?" Nico asked.

"It's, um," Rafael stammered. "It's…uh…ah for crying out loud! I can't believe that I forgot what it's called! I'll get back to you on it tomorrow. But anyways, today's been great boys! Have a good one!"

"Peace, bro!" Pedro said as Rafael saluted them and flew downwards into the woods as the sun began to fall behind the mountains. It was time for bed for the children.


Meanwhile, Blu and Jewel had just finished their passionate kiss.

"You know," Blu said looking into Jewel's eyes, "birds don't see well in the dark, so it might be best if we—

"—you think way too much," Jewel butted in. "Let's go kiddos!"

"I'm tired!" Ramon exclaimed.

"Same here!" Gabriela followed.

"All this flying is too much," Bruno said with them.

The kids followed Blu and Jewel back down into the forest, and they located their tree, a tall Manduvi Tree near the eastern end of the sanctuary. They landed at the tree and made their way inside the large hole that it contained.

"Daddy!" Bruno yelled loudly. "Tuck me in first!"

"Now, now," Jewel said with assurance, "he'll get you all tucked in, just wait your turn."

"But he loves me more!" Gabriela yelled at Bruno.

"Wrong!" Ramon added.

"You're both wrong!" Bruno said. A jumble of screaming ensued between the three kids. Jewel was in no mood to deal with disobedient children.

"He won't tuck any of you in if you keep arguing!" Jewel threw out with a loud rumble. Blu looked the other way like nothing happened.

Awkward, Blu thought.

The kids stopped talking and looked at Jewel with pure guilt.

"We're sorry, mommy," they said in unison.

"Oh it's okay," Jewel said in an empathetic childlike voice. "Goodnight, my angels."

Jewel kissed all three of them as she nestled down on the other side of the nest.

"Goodnight, guys," Blu said as he kissed all three of them. "And don't anger mommy like that! You know she has high blood pressure."

"I heard that," Jewel said teasingly. "Come over here before I freeze to death!"

"That's not physically possible in this climate, though—

"—just get over here!" Jewel butted in. Blu wasted no time snuggling in with his companion.

"Oh, man," Jewel said feeling Blu's warmth. "If you get up for any reason I swear I will—

"—just go to sleep," Blu butted in. Jewel was surprised at his remark but wasted no time saying what was on her mind, as her and Blu fell into a deep sleep.


Back in the air, Nico and Pedro floated in silence as they watched the rest of their friends depart, as they looked at each other.

"Aw, man," Pedro said with a melancholy tone, "we're the only ones with nothing to do, every time!"

"Easy, fella," Nico said trying to calm him down. "Good things come to those who wait, kid!"

"Looks like we're spending the night down at the samba club again," Pedro said sadly. Bent out of shape, he quickly flew away from Nico back towards Ipanema.

"Wait!" Nico yelled as he flew quickly to try and catch up with Pedro. "Slow down, big guy!"

Meanwhile, while Blu and the rest of the birds had stopped flying, Linda, Tulio, and Luiz were still in the air on their hang gliders. Fernando was not feeling well enough to join his stepparents on a hang glide across the city.


"This is so much fun!" Linda yelled. "But how do we get to the ground?"

"That's easy!" Tulio replied happily. "The wind currents from these mountains keep us up for quite some time, but we eventually will reach ground out by the beach! It's the safest place to land."

"I'm tired!" Luiz yelled, which, of course, was merely heard as barking by the humans.

"How did he get here?" Linda asked, curious.

"I don't know," Tulio replied, puzzled as both of them looked at Luiz.

"Uh, I'm just gonna go now," Luiz said quietly as he made a sharp turn with his glider towards the favela. He glided slowly downwards until just minutes later, when he landed onto the street in front of his garage, where just about a month ago, Blu and Jewel had had their first real fight, and a turning point changed their paths of fate.

As Luiz landed it occurred to him that there was nothing governing him from doing anything he wanted. After all, who was going to try and stop a random dog?

"I know," Luiz said out loud but to himself, "I'll go chill with Nico and Pedro! They're probably at the samba club right now!"

Just then, a pickup truck came down the street, driving slow enough for Luiz to hop into the back as it headed down the steep road back into the city.


As Luiz left, Linda and Tulio continued to fly downwards to the beach. They still had to close up shop, eat dinner, and find something else to do with their time for the rest of the night.

April, in astrological terms, is winter time in Brazil, though they are not like the cold, snowy, harsh winters of Minnesota. Average temperatures in Rio stay nearly constant throughout the year, something that Linda couldn't seem to believe.

After Luiz broke off from the group, the remaining two humans continued their descent towards the city below.

"So," Linda proclaimed, "when do we get to see some snow?"

Tulio laughed so hard he almost lost grip of the hang glider. "There's no snow here!" he replied. "It's too warm here to snow!"

"But that's no fun!" Linda said, slightly disappointed. "I don't get to ski or use a snowmobile!"

"The Conservation Center owns a boat," Tulio said as he tried to cheer Linda up. "They don't use it much anymore, so anyone that feels like taking a ride can rent it out! Tell you what, why don't we use it tomorrow? Spend a day on the water?"

"That sounds great!" Linda cheered as they headed back down towards the Ipanema Beach.


Inside the Manduvi tree, all was quiet. Only about 10 minutes after they had gone to sleep, Ramon, Gabriela, Bruno, and Jewel were as sound asleep as a hibernating bear in Minnesota, with dreams comparable to a bright flowery field. Blu, however, was experiencing a less desirable sleeping experience.

Unknown to the humans and his bird family, Blu had severe insomnia. His intelligent mind was constantly focused on retaining information and memories, so much that he constantly found it difficult to sleep. He had hidden this from Linda for the past fifteen years, and even from Jewel as they lay on top of the old spotter's tower in the jungle on the first night they ever spent together.

This was a night that was particularly bad for Blu. His mind raced. All he could see were memories of his experiences in Rio: his first experiences with Jewel, the monkeys, and his leap of faith to save Jewel. They played over and over again in his mind. When Blu did get to sleep, these memories taunted him in a nightmare, circling him. His dream self screamed for help, to no avail.

Blu woke up in a cold sweat. His eyes quickly opened wide as he took a deep breath and looked out of the tree. The bustling city could be heard all around. He felt Jewel's body and wing cuddled closely behind him. Blu had way too much energy for some reason, and he decided that it might be best if he try to burn it off.

Quietly and carefully, Blu pushed Jewel's wing aside from on top of him. She moved slightly, but did not wake up.

Thank you for being a heavy sleeper, Blu thought to himself. He got up and slowly walked over to the hole of the tree, and right before he jumped out to begin flying, he stopped at the edge and looked out onto the landscape.

A large, partially open row of trees stood in front of him, making their way in a straight line away from his tree. Vines hung from the trees. Distant memories played in Blu's head of flying, singing, dancing birds. He tried as hard as he could to remember, but the memories were too vague for him to put a good picture together.

"I need some alone time," he thought to himself, as he dove out of the tree and freefell towards the ground. More vibrant memories tried to pronounce themselves in his mind, but they simply couldn't come through, as he pulled up like a plane out of a nosedive, and set course for Ipanema Beach.

Please excuse the introduction, it was merely intended to set the tone for my writings and build plot and suspense. I felt I had to cut this off here for now because this chapter was getting so long. So, what do you think? Questions? Errors i missed? Let me know in the comments! I want to hear from all of you! I want to make my writing as good as possible, and I cant do that without suggestions. Second chapter to be out soon.