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The Story of That Little Bird
He really couldn't sit still, that one, hopping about on his little orange feet, his feathers freckled brown on brown, head bobbing to touch the ground. You might say he looked inquisitive, but the truth of the matter is that he really wasn't thinking about much at all, except the movie he watched last night through a bedroom window (too much violence for his taste.)

The bird was outside a little cafe that styled itself "french." So far, the pickings were pretty slim - a gob of mashed banana that a baby had belched, three leaves of lettuce that flew off the plate of a woman who sneezed, and a slippery olive. He wasn't too worried though since he had eaten quite well that morning (muffin shops always produce crumbs.)

A shadow fell across the bird's back, and he twitched his head to look upwards. Ah, yes, a man was sitting down at the tiny wooden table under which the bird waited. He was tall and awkward, and the bird thought it a shame that the fellow had to scrunch his legs up when he sat. The man's head was free of hair, and a small pudge was growing around his middle (quite sizeable, the bird thought, but then he realized it might just be his perspective.)

A waitress in bright red shoes came to take the man's order. He was quick about it - just a something-salad sandwich with a cupcake on the side. The bird didn't quite hear exactly what it was, but he wasn't too picky. In less than a minute, the food was on the table.

Much to the bird's chagrin, the man was uniquely neat about his dining: precise in the motion of fork and knife, and especially in the path from plate to mouth. While chewing his lunch, the man though about a story he'd read in the morning paper. A little girl had found a diamond while digging in a sandbox in Central Park. The idea of a buried treasure made the man smile to himself (before becoming a florist he had harbored dreams of archeology) and when he did, a small crumb of his sandwich fell from his mouth.

Out of the corner of the bird's eye, he saw the morsel descending rapidly. It tumbled through the air in a yellow pasty blur and hit the gray sidewalk with a bounce. the bird hopped over and tucked in.

mmm...

suddenly he coughed - horrified. EGG! he screamed (it sounded like a chirp to the man). Oh heavens no.

cannibalism.

the bird vomited and flew away.