Now we're back to what is probably one of my most favorite stories to work on. Remember, this one was inspired by Draclepire's "One Morning in Minnesota", and it's gonna be just like it. So here's to hoping that that good author will like this.
CHAPTER ONE: FROM A NORMAL DAY TO A GREAT SURPRISE
Imagine if there was a person who had a life of his own that wasn't so much as adventurous but rather enjoyable. A life where that person wouldn't have any responsibilities but still had good times with his friends and at least had a job, and a friend who always took care of him and treated him like a little brother. That person felt like no life could be any better than that. And that person...wasn't even a person, but a bird. A scarlet macaw and his name was Harry.
He was a bird who felt like he had everything and didn't want more. But that would soon change on a new ordinary day.
All the way, in the large town of Rio de Janeiro, the sun rose up as Harry was continuously sleeping on a large couch. He and his owner, Donnie, lived in a hotel room together since that was where they worked. Donnie was the hotel's doorman and Harry was the special bird who entertained the younger residents with acrobatic tricks everyday, and he did it with the many other birds that were friends with him. Harry loved with his job but he also loved to sleep in a lot like what he was currently doing. Until he heard a small voice.
"Harry. Harry. Hey buddy...(clicking)…it's time to get up." Harry groaned and opened his eyes to see that voice came from Donnie. "How are you feeling?" "Great. Until you woke me up again." All Donnie heard from that response was a squawk. "Alrighty. I can see you're still your cranky-self." He slowly rubbed his head. "Sorry to wake you on your day off now but I thought I should let you know that I'm about to go out and get some groceries. Think you can manage here without me?" Harry only nodded. "Good. See you, buddy." He left the hotel room, which was a suite, and Harry sat up to stretch and look to see that he had the whole suite to himself.
"Oh yeah. Party time." He said with glee as he spotted the remote and made it roll to him in smooth style. Once he reached it, he turned on the TV and watched his favorite shows.
"Hmm…(stretching)…This is the life. A large room. No responsibilities. A job of entertaining kids, and plenty of good friends. Now it's just me enjoying a good day off, expecting nothing but no worries." But that's where he was wrong. When Donnie left the room, he instantly heard the TV go off and just chuckled. "Hmm Hmm. Oh Harry. Fun with kids and to your owner…(sigh)…I just wish you didn't have to go through all of your own fun alone." He thought and dwelled on the idea of it during his trip.
Donnie always trusted Harry to manage things but doing them alone was a bother. Donnie just didn't know what to do which was another reason why he left, and looked through his phone to see photos of him, Harry, and all of their friends. And in the photos, he noticed a friend of his named Emma, a girl who worked at a pet store not too far from the hotel, so seeing her gave Donnie a great idea.
Meanwhile still, Harry was enjoying his toons and saw a picture frame of him and his friends together. "Hmm. Yep, plenty of friends. Can't imagine anything that would be better." He looked closer and thought more about them.
Sebastian, a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl who was not the just oldest member of the group but also wisest and most annoying when it came to humor.
Elizabeth, a hyperactive Cave Swallow who would sing right and could become too excited with new friends if it never came to anything scary.
Mikka and Leo, a pair of scarlet macaw lovers who were younger than Sebastian but more responsible for taking care of their friends.
Geoffrey and Angel, the youngest and humorous birds, and the son and daughter to Mikka and Leo.
These six birds have been friends with Harry for many years, and all of them together did a great job in their performances. They dance, sing, and do all kinds of acrobatic tricks meant to occupy the children while the adults work to rent rooms or anything else. "And I think my life is just better this way, with nothing new." That was what Harry thought.
One hour later, Donnie got the groceries and made it to the pet store speedily. It was a small shop but had a lot of good products and plenty of animals, and even though Donnie's been to the place a lot to get food for Harry, he seemed more happy to be in it than before. Emma was at the cash register and smiled to see Donnie here again.
"Hi D."
"Morning, Emma. Do you think you can help me with something?"
"Getting Harry's usual, right? Sure I'll help."
"No, not that, something else."
"Oh?"
"You see, call me silly, but for awhile now, I've had to leave Harry home alone so much and I'm thinking that he might getting a lonely."
"Really? Are you sure about that, because you know how well he is with taking of himself and he already has you and the other birds from-"
"I know, I know but I don't think it's so much as enough. I just want to do something like this to make him more happy and not at all alone. So please, help a friend's friend out by getting him a new friend?" He gave her puppy eyes. Emma apparently couldn't resist, "Ah. Okay. But are you even sure. What if he likes being alone?" "I don't think I wanna take that chance." "Alright then. Besides I don't think I can turn down helping that little red guy. In fact…now that you mention it I do have something in mind. Follow me." She lead Donnie to a back room in the shop, where there was a handful of pet food, a TV set, chair, and a desk with a large cage. And inside that was a bird staring at the wall in sadness. Only the two humans could get a good look at her.
"Oh my gosh. She's…she's so beautiful." Donnie said.
"Yep. Me and a friend of mine found her six weeks ago. She was hurt so I fixed her up and left her here since she didn't look too thrilled to go back to the jungle. Heck she didn't even wanna be around the other animals."
"The poor girl looks lonely. What's her name?"
"To me she looks like an Annabelle. Now I know that she isn't a scarlet macaw but I think if you wanna give Harry a new friend then maybe she could be the best choice."
"Hmm…" He thought it over and wondered if it could work. He believed Harry was too lonely and Annabelle really did look depressed, so maybe bringing them together could create a win win for both of them. After all, "Opposites attract."
After going through a few more minutes, Harry was still relaxing and did what he usually does while watching TV; "Goodbye Radiator-Springs, and goodbye Betsy! California here I come! Aw I feel that wind!" Every time he would watch a good movie, he would act out some of his favorite scenes. At the moment he was watching a scene about a red car racing through an old town. He had the same feeling that the car did. Total freedom and no worries...even though he couldn't fly. But he would never get tired of the feeling.
Then he heard a knock on the door. "Donnie?" He squawked. "Hey Harry, it's me. And I got a surprise for ya." "Hmm?" Harry climbed up to the suite's kitchen island and Donnie opened the door, which really gave Harry a surprised look because he saw his best friend holding a cage covered by a sheet. "Harry. Oh boy. My friend, I believe you are going to love this to the max. Now for a long time I've been worried that I might be making you feel lonely every time I leave you." "Huh? I'm not lonely." Donnie still didn't understand that so he continued, "So I decided to buy a new friend for you. Or more accurately I rented her in case you guys don't get along." "Her?" "So anyway, I hope you guys do get along and this will help you not feel alone when I'm gone." "Her? I-I-I-" He wanted to protest but was distracted by the thought of him now befriending a new girl and housemate.
Donnie opened the front of the sheet and the cage door. "Hey Annabelle. You can come on out, it's okay." From Harry's view the cage it seemed too dark but after a second he heard a very soft voice with a soft sniffle of sadness. "Alright, alright, 'Donnie'. If it'll get you to shut up. My gosh, I don't even know why you wanted me. Though if I got what I wanted I would at least...(sniff)...stop crying and actually listen for...once." She stepped out of the cage and stared directly at Harry. Harry did the same to her and saw that she was a young blue spix macaw, and very very beautiful. He even noticed the tears on her so he raised his wing.
"H-Hi. Hi there."
"Hello." She seemed about as nervous to see him as he was but walked forward to him, even with her bright pink cheeks. "I'm Annabelle."
"So I gather. I-I-I'm H-H-Harry." He smiled but took a step back which made Annabelle chuckle to see him quake like that. "(Chuckling)…Well H-H-Harry, can I say it's quite interesting to meet a very handsome bird like yourself." She continued walking to him while he still backed up, until he slipped into the kitchen sink that was filled with water. Annabelle and Donnie laughed.
"Well, already I can see you two are getting along great. So I think I'll just leave you alone for a bit." Donnie said and left to his bedroom.
"W-What?" Harry felt like freaking out a little but quickly got out of the sink when he saw Annabelle still smirking at him. "U-U-Uh. Hang on a second." Harry was out and soaking wet.
"Hmm. Now what the heck are you so nervous about, handsome."
"N-Nothing."
She kept walking to him and as they were getting closer, both their faces became bright pink with blushes.
"Annabelle, what are you doing?"
"Getting to know you a little. Some friends usually shake wings, but for a handsome friend I'd rather do something else my way." Then she pushed Harry up against a pillar and kissed his cheeks repeatedly. "Ah." He freaked out a little more so he got out of Annabelle's embrace and jumped to the floor and ran.
"Hey where are you going, red?"
"W-Well, I am trying just to get a little more space. And Annabelle if we're going to be friends then might I suggest we take things slowly?"
"Slowly? Ooh-hoo, I don't know the meaning of the word. But if you wanna play Lover's Chase then I'm all for it!"
Annabelle jumped and chased after him. Harry gulped and continued running while still blushing. He was also curious to why Annabelle couldn't just use her wings to fly and catch him, but let that idea go to avoid her.
The two continued running around in the suite while the movie was still playing. After a few more seconds passed, Annabelle couldn't help but stare at the TV, and when she stopped to do so, Harry accidentally crashed into her, making them collide and lay down beside each other.
Annabelle smiled to see that she was right next to the nervous Harry.
"Well now, I didn't think you'd wanna switch places."
"Okay Annabelle, I-" Before he could finish, Annabelle put a wingtip on his beak, telling him to shoosh. "Harry, just calm down and let me take a good look at you." She examined him from the face and shoulders, and liked him more. His red feathers were bright and colorful, he looked young and strong and very mature, and she seemed to like him more for his nervous side. So she put her wings on her chin and stared at him seductively. "Hmm…okay, Harry if you wanna take things slowly then how 'bout you start by telling me a little bit about yourself?"
"Okay. Well I've lived in this place nearly my whole life, I'm sort of a fun guy when it comes to thinking of something fun to do, and also I'm a thirteen year old scarlet macaw. Not a sixteen year old blue macaw."
"Actually I'm fifteen."
"Oh."
"(Giggling)…well I can see you really are someone fun to hang out with. As for me, I know I may seem like someone who's hard to talk but I'm also quite a lonely bird. I've been on my own for a while because I never seem to find 'the one' for me. So I've been avoiding others and let my loneliness get the best of me."
"Really? I'm sorry about that."
"Don't be. After all, you-"
"Hang on, Annabelle, I get it. You want a boyfriend in your life but I don't think I'm the right guy for it. After all we just met today."
"I know, but…still…I don't think I can help it. We may have met today but you're just too cute to resist. And it's not like I'm asking you to marry me. I just want someone care about right now. And the other way around."
"Y-You really think I'm cute?"
"Oh yeah. Now come on, just hold still and let me just get a little more befriending with you. Hmm…"
She got closer and rubbed her cheek to Harry's. He was feeling more heat than before, but was glad that Annabelle was taking things slowly. He didn't want to be in a relationship like that but did feel something inside him pumping and thought, "Wow…I don't really think I've ever thought about having a girlfriend before. Maybe I am gonna like this. All I have to do is make her feel welcomed, show her respect, and hope that she'll never meet Leo and the others." So then he snuggled his heads to hers and they got to know each other a little more throughout the rest of the afternoon and only thought about what might come next.
