Jalin awoke to find himself in a cage. He grabbed the bars with his wings and looked around. He was in a small bedroom. A desk, a bed, a drawer, a mirror, a lamp, and a closet filled with clothes decorated the room. Also, he saw different posters of something called 'University of Arizona' plastered on the walls. The name 'Tucson, Arizona' was also printed in some of the university posters. He was on top of the plywood drawer.
What happened, he thought. I was just sleeping in the back of some student's car, and then I awake to find myself in a room in a cage. Probably that bird tricked me, or I was clumsy, and the humans caught me. Well, sleeping in the bed of a car filled with party college students is pretty clumsy of me. I kind of set myself up for this.
He walked over to the bird cage's door.
Now, to open this. Dad told me how to open cages before. I remember because it's the only lesson Mom didn't have an excuse to leave. In fact, she wanted to learn. Let's see. It appears I have a standard flip side-bolt. Easy enough to escape from. I just-
The door of the bedroom opened, banging the white wall. Jalin heard music outside the doorway. A guy came in with a drunken girl. The hot blonde was laughing as the guy closed the door. Jalin noticed that the door handle was more of a lever than an actual knob. It made his escape even easier. He turned his attention towards the guy and the girl. They were kissing passionately. The drunken girl saw Jalin in the corner and got off the bed.
"What a cute bird," the blue-eyed, tanned white girl said.
She rubbed Jalin's chest with her index finger. He didn't know why, but it felt good. Like Jewel, he had been bias towards the whole petting thing, but when a cute human girl did it, it felt right. He smiled as he felt the smooth finger brushed against his feathers. The brown-haired white guy walked over to them. The girl faced the guy as she continued to pet Jalin.
"Is he yours?"
"Well, I found him. I gave him a home. Poor bird. He was injured with I found him."
Jalin narrowed his eyes at the male student. What a scam to get this girl to sleep with him. However, it had worked.
"Oh, John. You're very kind and caring."
"Jessica, would you mind petting my private bird?"
The girl shyly smiled. She moved her touch from Jalin to the guys' pants. Jalin knew what was next. Shocked by what he saw, he looked away. Even though the camera picture was gone, the noise made a mental picture. He flinched at every noise he heard. Finally he heard footsteps and then some springs. He peeked over his shoulders and saw that the 'buddies' were underneath the covers of the bed. Now was his chance.
He walked over to the cage of the door and flipped it opened. He jumped down onto the dresser drawers and walked along it. Of course, he heard sounds of love. It quickly reminded him of Salvia, and he imagined himself as the college male and Salvia as the sober version of the blond girl. He sighed.
Great, now I think like Dad. I'm just another horny Blu bird.
The dresser was next to the door handle. He jumped on it, opening it slightly. He flew down and squeezed through the door opening, making it bigger. He walked outside of the room as the couple had.
"Geez, I almost had a front view of it."
He felt footsteps coming towards him. He turned to his right to see an obese college male heading his way. The fat kid was trying to grab Jalin.
"Hey…I found, hiccup, a birdie."
Obviously, the guy was drunk. Jalin was cornered to the wall near him. He studied the college student and figured that he would have a horrible time judging distances. It happened to him when he was drunk. He ran into a tree and passed out until next morning. Jalin flew up along the wall to the kid's eye level. The nineteen year old smiled and saw Jalin feet away. He smiled and sprinted for the bird, knowing he would get it. Jalin flew above the kid, making him run into the wall. As he flew away from the kid, he heard a 'thuck' sound.
Jalin flew towards the living room of this apartment. He was stunned by what he saw. These college students had somehow fitted fifty people in the living room meant for thirty. College students were also in the kitchen, but not that much compared to the living room. Jalin looked around and saw that the sober people were socializing or trying to get drunk by taking shots or playing beer games.
"Wow. This is our future. Isn't this the generation they acclaim to develop a cure for the common cold?"
A table tennis ping ball hit him. The white, weightless ball landed into a cup filled with beer on a plastic folded table. The Asian student across from the table shouted in victory.
"Birdee shot!"
His opponents, two short brunettes, looked up to see Jalin flying towards the window.
"Oh, wow," one of the brunettes said. "That's a pretty bird. Whose is it?"
"A bird?" questioned a five-foot tall African American.
He walked from the kitchen towards the living room. He saw Jalin flying towards the opened door to the patio opposite of the entrance to the apartment. A smoker had accidentally left it opened. The African American quickly responded.
"Someone close the door!"
Because of the music, no one near the door really heard him. Jalin flew through the opened glass door and through a puff of smoke. He coughed as he flew higher and higher into the air. He sighed as he continued to fly.
"So, I'm in Tucson," he said. "If my geology is correct, California is westward. Well, let's head west."
It was probably around eleven at night. He looked up and looked for the North Star. He found it sparkling brightly and determined west from it. He smiled and started flying west, flying over the college-lively city of Tucson.
Blu was reading a magazine in the bookstore as Jewel was surfing the web on Linda's computer. Linda had gone out for a lunch break with her husband and was to return in an hour. Blu read the magazine and found something interesting. It was a section about a twenty-nine-year-old Miley Cyrus signing up with a graphic company. Blu was sort of expecting it. Like most singers, Miley Cyrus was slowly rising down. It happened to Britney Spears, Insync, the Backstreet Boys, and so on. Her heyday had peeked, and now she was going down. But she was still hot. Of course, she was losing money. Being an uneducated girl from Nashville Tennessee, stereotypical in its own way, she had to go into that slutty business.
That's what you get for dropping out of college, Miley Cyrus, thought Blu.
He set the magazine down and flew over to Jewel. She was watching a movie called Paranormal Activity 6. It had released eight years after the third movie of the franchise. She watched as a shadowy image from the lamp-lit room made its way towards the child's bed, which was off camera. The shadow of the disembodied figure disappeared, going towards the child's bed. Jewel's eyes widened as to what will happen next.
"Honey, I don't want you having nightmares again," said Blu.
Jewel just nodded. The kid started to call his mom in his childish voice. Footsteps were heard, and the mom entered the room. She walked towards the bed, going off the camera. Moments later, the mom flew back and hit the wall with her eyes gorged out. It sounded like someone got of the bed. The child slowly walked towards his mom, not showing his face. He stood in front of his mom and looked over his dead mom. He extended his hand out and got some of the pouring blood on his fingers. He licked it and stood still for a few seconds. Suddenly, he turned his head around one hundred eighty degrees and screeched at the camera, breaking the lens. The screen turned dark.
When the boy screeched, Jewel jolted into a quick shiver. She looked around in panic. Blu sighed.
"Honey, I told you. There's nothing to be scared of."
He put his wings around his mate. Jewel calmed down a bit.
"It's just one of those movies that you know you'll get scared by, to the point you can't go to sleep, but you still have to watch it."
"Don't worry. I'm here."
Jewel faced her mate.
"Very comforting, Blu," she toyed.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Who's the brains of the family?"
"Me."
"The provider?"
"Me."
"The adviser?"
"Me."
"The brawler?"
"M... Wait, um, you."
"That's right," she said in a tone a kindergarten teacher would address her class of five-year-old students. "You get an 'A'."
Blu grunted. Jewel giggled.
"I get what you mean, Blu. I know you will. You always are."
They shared a quick kiss.
"I'm not sure if I can sleep tonight," said Jewel seductively.
Blu smiled.
"Well, let's enjoy one more movie before we get our freak on."
Blu searched for the next movie to see on Netflix and picked an action movie. Jewel rested on Blu's chest as they watched the movie.
Jalin had reached Yuma, Arizona in a matter of six hours. The sun was barely rising up, so he didn't have to suffer the intense heat Yuma had to offer. He knew it was Yuma because there was a prison called the Yuma Territorial Prison. It was a closed prison that housed criminals of the Old West. The old prison was set on top of a hill. A river called the Colorado River was below it. In the old days, the river would flood all the land that was Yuma except for the prison. This flooding problem stopped when the Hoover Dam was built. Yuma bordered southern California, so his trip was nearing to the end.
He flew down from the roof of the prison's old cells to the bank of the river. He walked over to the edge of the river and saw his reflection. He shook at the sight of his tired self.
Boy, I better rest soon. California would be the best place to rest. If I keep on going, the closer I am to Oregon.
He lowered his beak and took a drink of water. He also dipped his head into the water to keep his eyes awake. The water wasn't as cold as he predicted, but his eyes flew opened. He shook his head and looked across the river. The land of California was just meters away. He flapped his wings and flew across the river, passing the interstate highway bridge that had the words 'Ocean-To-Ocean Highway; Yuma' as some sign of sarcasm when the Colorado River looked like an actual ocean before the dam was built. Jalin crossed the river and made it into California within seconds.
California and soon Oregon. Salvia, I'm coming. Just wait for me. I'll be there soon.