Harvey and the Collection of Impossible Things by Garret Weyr

Author:Garret Weyr [Weyr, Garret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

11

DOUBLE NORMAL

THE SKY AND I watch the trees in the park as they go from green to red. The heat fades away, and the air is sharp with the promise of cold. Colder than normal for this part of the year, but at least the sparrows come back.

They’re just as chatty as ever. Except for Kippy, who looks more worried than usual. Or maybe he looks mad at me? I hope he’s forgiven me for telling him to go away. I’d smile but that shows my teeth, which would definitely make him more worried.

“The fountains are empty now,” Flippy says.

“Summer is all gone,” Mippy says. “Yes, yes, yes.”

“Your human is famous,” says Flippy. “Because of the bakery.”

“She’s not my human,” I remind them. “I don’t live with her. We share the roof.”

I don’t know what makes humans good or terrible, but at least I still live under the sky. I’m not brave, but I am a city creature.

“Her bakery was in the newspaper,” says Mippy.

“I know that, she showed me,” I tell them. “Tell me what I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” asks Flippy.

“How are the train stations?” I ask. “Have you seen my sister?”

“So many people use the train to buy breakfast at your human’s bakery,” Flippy says.

“So many,” says Mippy.

“She’s not my human,” I say again, but feel sad this time.

“People at the bakery drop lots of crumbs for us,” says Mippy.

This is the problem with sparrows: It is hard to make them focus. I try again.

“What do you know about my sister? Is she okay in her cage? Also, how is the The Terrific Thief?”

I know he is brave and fierce, but when you chase food and safety all day, it’s always possible that hunger and danger will win. Even my brave brother could wind up SPLAT.

Mippy starts to speak but Kippy holds up his wing and says, “Tell him the bad news.”

Bad news?! “Is my brother okay? And my sister?”

“She sits in the window,” says Flippy. “She looks fine.”

“Fine, fine, fine,” Mippy says.

“And The Terrific Thief?” I ask.

“He lives near a building on the University campus.”

“And he eats from the University dumpster,” Mippy says. “He does, he does, he does.”

“We have to tell him about the park,” Kippy says.

He says it quietly but firmly. His feathers ruffle, which tells me he’s also frustrated by how the sparrows can’t focus.

“The squirrels in the park are eating double,” Flippy says.

“They say lots of cold and ice and snow is coming,” Mippy adds.

“Double the normal amount,” Kippy says. “It’s serious.”

I’ve only been alive for six winters. But I’ve heard the stories from older city creatures. Stories about how a terrible and fierce winter can arrive and refuse to leave. How that kind of winter makes it hard to chase after food and safety—and easy for hunger and danger to catch us.

During a hard winter a lot of us die from the cold. This is why it’s so important to have your own spot—a safe, warm place where a hard winter can’t find you.

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