Elsa Mai English 7 HP/Sesky

Bella I was light-headed from the spinning car ride as I stepped out onto the mountainside pavement to be drenched in the golden sunlight. My family and a few friends and I had driven up into the mountains for a camping trip. On the second day, at about 6:00 when Bella and I returned from a short morning hike, Christians dad handed me a dirty white towel. I wasnt sure what was happening, but when I first reached out to touch it, a sharp high chime pierced the air leaving me startled. Gingerly, I cradled the towel in my hands as Bella walked up to me, her blue tee shirt sprayed with water. Come on, lets get back to the tent, I whispered. We made our way back to the springy green tent, which was barely standing up, and Bella and I quickly and carefully unfolded the towel. Inside it lie a small bluish-grey bird; it was so young and fragile. It had its down, fluffy but thin. It was shivering from both the cold and fright. Christians dad told me to release it into the forest, but I refused. We all knew that it was too young to survive on its own. At that moment, a million thoughts whizzed around in my head. How would it escape from harm? How would it get food? It cant even fly yet! Bella seemed to read my mind. I knew that Christians dad was surprised and a little disappointed by our response, so I looked down, only glancing up sometimes, but never meeting his eyes. Bella waited outside with the bird while I hauled a cot outside. The little grey bird somehow wriggled out of Bellas hands and scrabbled to fly, fluttering its wings hard and shakily. It was a blur, but I could see it falling-----------Bellas hands cradled it next thing I knew. My heart was pounding, but I was relieved. She brought the bird over, and sat down with me. If we were going to keep this bird, we were going to have to feed it, give it water and food. Painstakingly, we inched tiny droplets of water into its beak. We were confident until it started chirping repeatedly. Bella was puzzled, but I wasnt. It was hungry. First, we tried

feeding it grains of rice. That didnt work, so Bella tried to soak the rice extra-long to make it softer, but that didnt work either. Why wouldnt it eat? We were so worried we even started asking it for suggestions! It took us an entire half-hour to discover that we had to tip the birds head back, and open its beak for it. By then, we were pretty tired. Thank goodness! I thought. But the moment that day that really scared me was when Bella and I took a break to go eat lunch. We let the bird perch on a log, where it was almost got stepped on. Terrified, it climbed down deeper into the wood, which was filled with dirt and dust. I tried to hold out my hand, hoping it would recognize me, but it only scurried down deeper. This is where I panicked. Bella, great in these situations, gingerly scraped the dirt out of the log. Finally, the gap was wide enough for an adult to reach in and grab the bird. Christians mom had to pull it out, which, now that I thing about it, was more than amazing. Once it was out, dirt hung in its feathers and it went into a state of shock. We were breathing heavily and smiling that that was over, and so was the dusty bird. Bella and I bathed it ------ soon later it was perky and energetic once again. This was for Bella.