Welcome to      David Chen's Writing Page 2!

<Prev.// Next> 1 //  2 // 3

University Settlement's Writing Class of ESL Program/Family Literacy Program at 175 Eldridge Street  (212) 533-6306

Front page // ESL Program // About Us // Teachers // Students // English // Writing // Computer // Resources

Links Pictures Chinese Info, English Info, Spanish Info, Yu Zhen Chan Ofelio Chen Lisa Lee Wah You Lee Winnie Leung Wen Fei Liang Pak Ping Ng Elana Tang Marisa Leung Sau Mei To Man Ying Wong Pauline Yau Muhammed Gunsel Faraguna

A Story of My Bird                                                                  Contents of ESL

Part One: An Adopted Bird

My little bird has come to my home for several years. It is my lovely creature. How did I get it? Let me tell you a true story.

Five years ago, I worked as a superintendent and lived in a big building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. A young Spanish couple was my tenants. They bought a bird and a rabbit for their two-year-old son. One evening the wife told me, “We have no time to take care of a little bird and a rabbit. We do not want to let them die. Super Chen, adopt them, please! Please!” “Ms, I’ll take the bird. No problem. But I do not want to raise a rabbit.” I said, “Okay I agree to adopt them.” Then the husband took out the bird from a small cage and showed me the bird could fly. He threw the bird in the air. The bird could only fly a little and the fell down to the floor. It was so young and was not full with feathers yet. I took a look at the rabbit. It was white. I guessed its weight at about two pounds, but it lived in a big cage, which is very nice and expensive. The cage was made from stainless steel and had a sealed price sign: two hundred and fifty dollars.

After I promised to adopt both pets, the wife gave me the cage with the bird and half a bag of bird food. The husband brought me the rabbit with cage, but no food.

Since then I fed the bird and cleaned its waste day after day. But the rabbit’s situation was very different. It ate a lot of potatoes every day. It ate food almost non-stop. Especially its urine and stool caused a strong small bathroom.

Part Two: My Bird Can Speak

Since I moved into a studio apartment, my bird has settled in the bathroom at the corner on the top of the sink, My bird has its own room, a quiet place, no light, no noise, and nobody bothers it unless using the bathroom.

I went to a Chinese grocery store to buy dry green beans. My bird likes them so much. The beans are only produced in Asia, including China, Thailand, and Malaysia, not America. My bird has grown up like a young kid. It is in full feather. It is light gray. The cage obviously was too small. When the bird stood on the rod, its tail stretched across the cage and its head almost touched the roof. A store next door sells bargains. The cage was nice and bigger than mine. I made a deal with the storeowner. I said, “I’ll give you my used cage in good condition, too, and pay you $4.00.” He said, “Okay.” So I replaced the cage with a big one. Certainly, my bird felt happy.

Since I took my new job as a salesman in Chinatown, I have worked hard 12 hours a day and six days a week. One morning I got up a little bit early, pushed the door open, got into the bathroom and turned on the light. Suddenly my bird broke into laughing: “Hee-hee-hee-hee,” and made a pose (very polite, eyes focused on me, head and body looking toward me, and if I moved a little, it would regulate the pose.) Making a low bow, the bird greeted me by saying, “Sun-Whoo-Law, sun-whoo-law,” which means hard working in Cantonese, a Chinese dialect. My bird repeated the greeting again and again. I am a Cantonese, so I completely understood what it meant. In fact, I worked so hard every day; I had the bird’s sympathy. Of course, at the bottom of my heart, I felt extremely happy. I looked at the bird and said, “Thank you so much.”

Every night I finish my work and go home about 8:30. While I open the door, I hear my bird’s voice from my bathroom: “Sun-whoo-law, sun-whoo-law.” It repeats again and again. It seems a good roommate welcomes me. I feel very comfortable.

According to an appointment for inspection of the window security in my apartment, one day two policemen came my studio. When I opened the door, the bird started speaking: “Sun-whoo-law, sun-whoo-law,” and repeated it again. One young guy rushed into the bathroom. After a moment, he came out and asked me, What language does it speak? Why don’t I understand it?” I replied, “sir, it speaks a Chinese greeting that means you are working hard. Is it true?” They burst out laughing.

Part Three:  My Bird Looks Like a "Model"

Every other day I clean the cage. The first time I opened the cage door; my bird jumped out and flew only a short distance. The second time she flew back and forth. She practiced flying again and again. Each time she flew a little longer. Up to the present, she can fly two big circles non-stop inside my studio.

My bird has grown up be a mature bird-like a girl in her mid-20s. She is slimly build, smaller than a pigeon. Her head and back are light gray but the breast and the belly are white. There are one-half-half-circular black feathers rounding her neck. It looks like a necklace. She is beautiful, clever, and friendly. I have seen many birds, but none of them can compare with her. Let me take some kinds of birds for comparison: An eagle has a big build, a strong, hooked beak and a fierce look; I do not like it, because it is a “sky robber.” A pigeon has a strong build and broad shoulders. I do not like it either, because it looks like an athlete. I always see sparrows, which are like little kids. Who likes them? A peacock has a very beautiful pride but it is not able to fly far. A parrot can talk, but it only imitates people’s talking like a recorder. Once in the park, downtown in Manhattan, a Chinese person held a cage with a “Wah-Mei” bird. It sang pretty well, but nobody could understand it.

My bird is very different. She has not only fine figure, she can say something polite to you. I am sure my lovely bird is a “model” among them. She would win “Miss World Bird,” if she participated in a beauty contest.

Part Four:  I Will Take Care of My Bird Unitil she Dies              1    2   3

One night recently, I sat down and wrote an essay. It was 10:30. Everywhere it was so quiet. Suddenly I heard a low voice coming from the bathroom: “Ho-whoo-law!” “Ho-whoo-law!” I tip-toed to the bathroom door. Through the seams of the door, Ah! I saw my bird sitting at the corner of the cage and in a very low voice slowly saying, “Ho-whoo-law.” She was moaning. In this case, I completely understood that she must be very, very sad.

I was not surprised. She was so young and was separated from her parents. Since I adopted her, she had lived alone in the cage for more than five years. I still could not find a boyfriend for her. I love my bird so much. I did not want to see her feel so sad. Suddenly an idea struck me: Let her go back to nature. I thought she would have fee action outdoors. She could do her own business. For example: First, she could fly anywhere and build up her own nest. So she could not live in the cage-like a prisoner. Second, she could find a boyfriend, then get married and then they would have a happy family. So she would never live alone. Third, she could eat what she wanted. So she would not eat only one kind of bird seed at home.

But I was very worried about her ability to survive in the natural environment. She had lived indoors for a long time. She was not able to fly a long distance. I dreamed of several terrible scenes that could become a prisoner again. Two, she could not bear the bitter cold weather and the heavy snow days. If she got sick, who would cure her? Three, a fierce eagle could chase her and catch her and then kill her, and finally eat her up completely. Four, in Manhattan there are so many pigeons; they look like wind blowing when they fly in a group. Even though there would be some food on the sidewalk or in the park, I was sure the pigeons would claim it and my bird would starve to death.

I still remembered her master saying to me, “I do not want to let these pets die.” As an adoptive parent, no way; I could not send her to die. I absolutely must keep her in my apartment and take care of her until she dies.

By David Chen                                Back To Top                                    Pages:  1 2   3