"Archibald wants a cracker" Jim’s mother was sitting on the
davenport, talking to her little green parrot. Jim and I looked at
each other, and had the same thought, Archibald needs another name.
When no one was around, Jim and I started calling Archibald "Fred".
When I went over to visit Jim, and knocked on the front door.
Everyone in the house would start yelling, "Where’s Archibald" they
had to know were Fred was, before opening the door.
Fred had two favorite perches, the upper right hand corner of
the mirror in the living room, and the mirror in the bathroom. Fred
would sit up there for hours bobbing his head, admiring him, but not
saying a word.
Jim’s mother brought home a 33 1/2 long playing record that
would teach Fred to speak. During the day, when everyone was at work
or school, and Fred was in his cage, he had to sit there for hours,
listening to stupid little phases, that every good parrot should know.
About a week later, Jim gave me a call; he told me his mother
was all upset. Fred’s first words were "Fred wants a cracker". When
questioned by his mother, about the name Fred, Jim told her "It must
have been on the record" Jim’s mother never played the record again.
Fred was talking up a storm, and growing up into a beautiful
green bird, until the accident.
One day Jim came home from school and let Fred out of the cage
then went to the bathroom. When Jim got done with his business in the
bathroom, and opened the door, Fred was flattened in the door jam,
then Fred suddenly fell to the floor dead. Jim called me in a panic.
"What I’m I going to do, John?"
"Put Fred back in his cage, and come over to my house, let your mother
find Fred."
After fact……I don’t know if Jim ever told his mother the truth. I do
know she never got another parrot.
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