Chapter 4: It's My Time

Upon bursting through the cloud line, the cluttered little Tasmanian village came into Nigel's sight. There it was...his ticket to extend his talent and live his dream; he hoped Mike didn't already leave. Tomorrow is the deadline, and Nigel knew that if he was just given a chance, he'd make both his and Mike's dream come true. Mike would be that humane animal trainer he's always wanted to be, and Nigel would be a worldwide hero to people and animals everywhere.

Why, it'd be like killing two birds with one stone! (Okay, maybe not the best choice of words)

From the atmosphere, it only took him about 20 minutes before he reached his destination. Looks like he got there just in time, too. Mike was already walking out the door with his arms full of luggage, and had a cab waiting for him out in the front.

He had to stop him, and fast! As his target was half-way down the the walk path, he swooped down like a heat-seeking bullet and planted himself on the concrete right in front of Mike before he could even take another step, and screeched like static feedback on an amplifier.

"Hey, little buddy, what're you doing here? I thought you flew home to your family."

Nigel didn't know how to tell him he wanted to help. They must've awkwardly stared at each other for about three minutes. What to do? What to do? But then, it hit him! Don't tell him, show him!

Just then, Nigel flew over to the next door neighbor's house, and turned up the volume on the boom box they had sitting on the front porch. It only took a second before the samba jams were at full blast.

Once he had the right tunes going, he flew back over to Mike, and began to boogie. After doing that for a minute or so, and then rocketed into the air.

He paused, and then did the unthinkable. He let himself drop from 75 feet in the air.

From the position Mike was in, it looked Nigel had suddenly weakened, fainted, and was now plummeting to his final landing, where he would then resume his flying to that great rainforest in the sky. He quickly acted out of his animal-loving instinct, and began running in circles, desperately trying to catch the little feathery ball.

But...he didn't catch him! He looked up and saw Nigel's strength returning. When he was only about 10 inches off the ground, his wings stiffened, and he spun back up into the air like a pinwheel. From there, he twirled like an autumn leaf as he returned for a landing, and took a bow.

Mike was astonished. He knew this bird was cute at first, but now he was cute and talented. This was it! His winning act!

He signaled the cab driver to wait a few more minutes and kneeled down in front of Nigel.

"Hey, you wanna be my companion?"

Nigel nodded in acceptance.

"Alright, let's get back to Rob."

They rode in the cab together and made it just in time before Rob, himself, was taking off for a lunch break.

Upon exiting, he was stopped.

"Mike? What're you doing here? Did you find an act?"

"You bet I did! This little cockatoo is a real showman; he can dance, he can perform breath-taking stunts, and, I'll bet if we train him enough, we could teach him to act just as well as those professionally trained Hollywood birds!"

"Let me see."

Alright, c'mon buddy; show Uncle Rob what'cha got."

Nigel took a breath. Why was he so nervous now? He couldn't let stage fright get ahold of him, now. He fluttered off Mike's shoulder, and and in front of Rob.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He couldn't get his groove moving without music, so he tried to listen for any music in the background. And sure enough, he heard it.

Only instead of any samba moves, he began to jump up and down like he was a nightclub, and jammin' to techno party music.

And to spice up his act a little more, he did backflips, somersaults, cartwheels, and even tried to make it sound like he was singing.

Once he bowed again, Rob's jaw dropped.

"You guys are in!" He applauded.

With much excitement, Mike and Nigel jumped up and down like school girls on a date. And could you blame them? They're dream was on the road to coming true.

Through tears of joy, Nigel cried out the excitement. "I did it Mom! Don't worry, I'll make you proud!"