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Mr. Jones had went out earlier and threw wild bird seed all over the area seen from the bay window. All the birds from the trees came down to feast on this wonderful gift. It was obvious Sunny wanted to be out there with them.
"She will get used to staying in the cage, Mother, you will see." Mr. Jones told his wife as they watched Sunny watching the wild birds.
Mr. Jones didn't tell his wife but he was beginning to question their motives for buying the little bird. Did they buy it to make the bird's life more enjoyable...or did they buy it to make their lives more enjoyable?
He thought about this for quite awhile before he mentioned it to his missus. When he did, it surprised him to find out she had been wondering about it too.
"Oh Father...we thought only of our happiness, not Sunny's. Living in a cage must be horrible for a bird that was used to the freedom she had in Australia. I guess some birds adjust to being caged better than others. Oh my...what are we going to do if she never adjusts to it?" Mrs. Jones asked genuinely concerned.
"Now now, Mother, don't fret." He told her. "We will allow her one month to try to adjust. We'll give her all the love we can muster up in that length of time. If she still doesn't show any signs of happiness we will...well, we will speak of that later."
Mr. Jones spent the entire month making Sunny wooden toys that hung from the top of her cage. Mrs. Jones kept up her ritual of talking to the little bird and telling her how much they loved her. No response...nothing seemed to work. The Jones' were at a loss as to what to do.
"What can we do? If we return her to the pet shop she still will be caged and she won't get the love we have shown her either." Mrs. Jones tearfully said.
"Mother, I've hesitated to bring this up but we must think of her happiness first. I think we should release her from her cage. It will be painful for us but she will, finally, be happy." Mr. Jones told his wife as he wiped a tear that had fallen across his nose.
With this said, Mrs. Jones broke down and started crying. She knew in her heart this was the right thing to do but it was going to be ever so hard for the old couple.
They picked up the cage and began their way outside. They stopped on the screened in porch long enough to say their final good-byes.
"I wish you could have learned to love us as much as we have grown to love you, Sunny. If this is what you truly want then...so be it." Mrs. Jones said to the sad little bird.
"Sunny...I only want to tell you how much we enjoyed having you here with us and how we will always think of you when we feed the birds." Mr. Jones told her as he hung his head.
They carried Sunny out on the open part of the porch, held the cage door open and watched her fly high into the top of a pine tree near their home.
"Do you think she'll be okay, Father?" Mrs. Jones worried.
"I don't know, Mother...I wonder if we'll ever see her again." He said as his voice quivered.
Days went bye and the Jones' were starting to get back into their normal routine around the house. Mrs. Jones was in the kitchen making breakfast while Mr. Jones sat on the screened in porch drinking his morning coffee.
They never spoke of Sunny to one another because each one thought it would be too painful for the other. Still, every morning Mr. Jones would watch the birds outside the porch and Mrs. Jones would watch the same birds outside her kitchen window. Each one was hoping to get a glimpse of Sunny...but it never happened.
One afternoon as the Jones' were preparing for a short walk around their property, they heard a different chirp from the ones they were used to hearing around the woods. They both heard it but were afraid to believe it could possibly be her. Then suddenly they spotted her.
She was sitting on a low branch of an old maple tree outside the back door. She was singing so loudly it was ringing in the Jones' ears.
"Oh Father," Mrs. Jones screamed. "It's Sunny! Oh...look at her, how happy she is." She cried.
"Yes...yes, I see her." He told his wife. "I agree with you Dear, she is happy...and that's what we wanted, now wasn't it?"
As it turned out, Sunny knew the old couple loved her dearly but she needed her freedom more. Every day she would come for some of the bird seed Mr. Jones would throw out for all the birds. After a few more weeks she would actually fly down and sit on Mrs. Jones' shoulder when she was outside.
Mrs. Jones would gently rub the side of her small head and tell her each day how much they loved and missed her. Sunny seemed to like this a lot because she started rubbing her head against Mrs. Jones' neck every time she would land on her shoulder.
The Jones' left Sunny's open cage sitting on the porch hoping one day she would decide to come home for good. For now, she was a happy little cockatiel living amongst the trees in the Jones' yard. She had the best of both worlds. She had her friends in the trees and the friends who loved her enough to give her what she wanted the most...her freedom.
"Do you think Sunny will ever be content to live in her cage with us, Father?" Mrs. Jones asked as she watched the birds hopping around in the seed they threw out.
"I don't know, Mother. We can only hope one day she will feel secure enough to return home for good." Mr. Jones told her as he watched Sunny suddenly take flight and soar to the tops of the trees.
"Yes...one day." She said.
The end
