The Parrot Below Me

When I got possession of my apartment, I didn’t move in right away. I took a few days to move stuff over, to clean everything, and to wash all of my new dishes. This happened in the summer when it was still hot, so we had the windows open. Few people in this building have air conditioning, so they had windows open, too. You could hear everything.

Someone sneezed, we heard it. Someone had their TV on, we heard it. Cars beeped, we heard them. Phones rang, we heard them. Actually, we heard phones a lot. Someone’s phone rang constantly, but they never picked up. The odd thing was that the phone had a slightly different ring every time. Sometimes long tones, sometimes short. Sometimes high pitched, sometimes low. It was very inconsistent and confusing.

Until one time, someone did pick up. Someone with an odd voice. And feathers.

I suddenly realized that we were not listening to a phone ring, or cars honking, but that we were in fact, listening to a parrot. A very vocal parrot. Once I realized this, I groaned and regretted my decision to move here. Birds are irritating. They’re silly pets.

I quickly discovered that I poorly judged this parrot. Turns out he’s the best ever, and he brings joy to my days on a pretty regular basis. I’ve named him Henry, because my parent’s old neighbour’s name was Henry, and I miss living beside him and his wife. Now for a list of things Henry has said or done:

-Beep like a car
-Sound like a car alarm
-Cat call (the first time I heard this I was drying my hair in front of my bedroom window and was admittedly rather alarmed and creeped out until I realized where it was coming from)
-Ring like a phone (and answer it)
-“Ew ew ew EW EW EW!”
-Random beeps and squawks
-R2D2 noises
-Cluck like a chicken
-Squeak like a door

And last but not least, every now and then Henry will let out a loud “WhooooooooooooHOOOOOOOOO!” which makes me laugh out loud and love him even more.