Another chapter up. I hope you enjoy :)
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the calm wind blowing through the air and into the tree. I felt so calm, I thought I would fall asleep again. But then, I felt the itchiness of the nest, and I remembered where I was. I crawled out of the nest and started towards the exit. The light was blinding at first, then the fake trees and the walls at either side of the room came into focus. At the back of my mind, I had a thought about something, but couldn't put my feather on it. What was it that was supposed to be happening today? As I tried to think another blue bird came flying in. Blu soared over and perched himself next to me.
"You ready to go?" he asked.
"Go? Go where?"
"Don't you remember? You get to be released back out into the wild."
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that. When do we leave?"
"Once Tulio thinks it's time, he'll take you outside. That's when you can leave. Me and Rafael will be waiting outside for you." Blu lifted off from the branch and began flying towards the door. "We'll see you then!" he called back.
"I'll be waiting." To pass the time, I decided to go grab a bit of a snack. I climbed down and trudged through the fake bush towards where all the food was put in. On the tray, I found a couple of mangoes and some grapes. I took the grapes and popped a few into my beak. I held onto the rest and went for a little stroll around the chamber. The ambient noises in the background calmed me, and I felt my troubles all wash away. The cool air from the vents was refreshing. I was lost in the silence. That was until Tulio came in. As soon as he came in and saw me, he started doing his 'bird talk'. "Great. Just when I was having a good day." When he finished squawking at me, he kneeled down to me.
"Ready to go?"
"Um, yeah. I've been ready ever since I came" I replied, sounding a little irritated, but all he heard was a series of squawks.
"I'll take that as a yes." He extended his arm towards me, his palm flat against the ground. "Climb up, then." I climbed up his arm to his shoulder where I stayed as he walked me through the building to the exit. "You're really eager to get out, aren't ya?"
"Yep. I just want to get out of here...and away from you." Tulio smiled and reached his hand to beneath my beak. "Hey! What the-" I suddenly felt a pleasurable sensation under my beak as Tulio began to scratch under it. Wow, that's good. Now I know how pets feel. My leg couldn't resist shaking a bit like a dog having a belly scratch. Soon, however, he stopped.
"I thought you might like that."
"Why'd you stop? I was enjoying that."
"Do you want another scratch?" I nodded eagerly. "Maybe some other time. We're almost there." I looked ahead to see that the door was only several feet away. I spotted Blu and Rafael waiting outside. "Looks like they're waiting for you." Tulio pushed the door open and lowered me to the ground. "This is goodbye, little guy. Be safe. I hope to see you again."
"You know what? You aren't so bad as I first thought. I hope to see you too." Tulio closed the door behind me and started to walk away. I turned around to Rafael and Blu, who were flying over to me.
"You ready to go?"
"Do you really have to ask. Of course I'm ready!"
"Then prepare to feel the wind against your face, cause here..we..go!" Rafael cried out as they lifted me from the ground. Once in the air, I could tell that Rafael was having some trouble. "Have you..gained..weight?" he panted.
"No I have not! You're probably just not as fit as you used to be." Blu stifled a laugh, and Rafael frowned at both of us. "Where are we going anyway?"
"To the club. Nico and Pedro would want to know that you're back, plus they want you to meet someone" Blu explained.
"Who is this new friend?"
"You'll see soon enough, amigo" Rafael said.
It took about 10 minutes to reach the club, which looked very busy. There was a long line of birds, waiting to get inside.
"What's with the crowd? Something big happening?"
"Oh yeah. Really big. Carnival is in a couple of weeks, and that is when the club gets real busy. Some of them are just there to help make preparations such as decorating and costumes and practicing their singing and dancing. And also, birds from all over the world come to visit Rio at this time, so that also adds to the crowd."
"Carnival? Isn't that the biggest parade ever?"
"You got it! And for us birds, it's one of the best celebrations we have."
"Sounds exciting. How long is it till then?"
"About two weeks, give or take a day. You got any plans?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know. Are you going to the club, or are you going to see the parade, or are you going to do something else?"
"Well, you see, there's a problem with that. I don't know how to dance" I mumbled. I could tell that they hadn't heard me.
"What was that? Speak up."
"I said that I don't know how to dance" I mumbled again.
"You don't know how to what?"
"I said I don't know how to dance!" I looked down in shame.
"Hey, there's no reason to feel low about it. We can teach you."
"You can?"
"Of course we can. Nico and Pedro aren't only the best singers, but also great dancers, as are we."
"Well, not exactly all of us" Blu added. "All I really do, as Nico says, is 'mumble and shuffle'. That's basically all I do."
"Then we'll teach you some moves too." Rafael looked down, as did I. We started to descent towards the club. "We're almost there, amigos! Get ready to do some partying" he cheered. I also cheered as well, along with Blu. Though, there was a surprise waiting for me at the club. Something I wouldn't expect.
And that's another chapter done. I hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter :)