The Three Little Birds In the City

1. The Three Little Birds In the City Written By: Paul Sydney “Mishikwud” Rock Krech Pima/Ojibwe -with- Syd’s Dad (Paul Rock Krech), Ojibwe

2. This story is dedicated to: • My two brothers who now live in the spirit world: • Doshua Byron Rock Krech (5-4-97) • Peanut Rock Krech (1-1-05)

3. nce upon a time... • There were three little birds • A Red Bird • A Yellow Bird and • A Green Bird

4. One day, the birds were sitting... • …in their nest as their mommy and daddy birds went to gather worms for dinner, the Red bird said, “Let’s go to the city!” • The Yellow bird said, “I don’t know.” • The Green bird, didn’t say anything, because he was afraid of the city.

5. They ALL decided to fly…. …to the city. As they flew, they saw a picnic bench: The Green bird saw a banana, and started to eat it. The Yellow bird was eating corn. The Red bird was eating popcorn.

6. After they were done eating... …they went to the bird bath to drink some water. Then they flew to the city.

7. The three birds saw: • Skyscrapers • Cars • Streetlights • People • ASU and • Fountain Hills

8. The three birds began to notice... …that they were hungry again. They thought they saw some bird seed down on the ground, under a set of steps. So they all flew down there and began to pick around to find the bird seed.

9. As they were under the steps... Picking around for seed, the Yellow bird noticed that a shadow blocked the sunlight quickly, only for a second. “What was that?” said the Yellow bird. “I don’t know,” said the Red Bird. The Green bird didn’t say anything, because he was very frightened; he was shaking, and his eyes got very big.

10. Again the shadow came... • But this time it stayed and the sunlight was blocked out. • The Yellow bird, now shaking said, “W-w-w-w-hat was that?” • Both the Red and Green birds said nothing because they were too scared to talk. • “He’s right behind me isn’t he?” said the Yellow bird.

11. It was a very hungry looking cat! • The cat tried to pounce on the birds, but he could not fit under the stairs. • The cat clawed at the birds and hissed at them. • The three birds were flapping about and wailing, “Oh save us from the big cat!!!” But all you could hear on the outside were cars, people, and airplanes.

12. The Red bird thought, “I really hate the city. I want to go home!”

13. The Yellow bird thought... “Coming to the city was a bad idea!”

14. The Green bird thought... “Did I leave the iron plugged in at home?”

15. The three birds began to cry... • “Boo hoo, boo hoo, boo hoo: We want to go home!” • Just then, the sound of thunder was growing. • The lightning flashed! • The Thunder boomed!!! • Cats are scared of lightning and thunder; so the cat ran away.

16. Then it began to rain. • Just a little at first, but as time went on, it rained harder, • and harder. • Then the wind whipped up and it got cold too.

17. The Yellow bird said: • “We better get out from under these steps,” as he saw the water begin to rise. • They flew up through the rain, the thunder, the lightning, and the wind to just under the eaves of a roof…They were exhausted. • The three birds fell asleep like this:

18. The next morning... • The birds woke up to the sounds of the city going to work. • They heard, cars, people talking, babies, planes, trains, sirens, and the sun was shining on a world that was becoming a little drier than the night before. • “Are you awake?” asked the Green bird.

19. “I’m awake,” • said the Yellow bird. • “I’m awake too,” said the Red bird. • “Me too,” said the Green bird as he yawned. • And the birds all woke up, shook their tail-feathers, and began to flap and stretch about up under that roof.

20. The birds decide to fly home. • But they wound up flying in circles because they lost their way home. • They found the bird bath… • And then they found the picnic bench

21. And they found their way home.

22. PN****This is how I used to think stories ended when I was about 2 years old…”PN!”