Life with Lily by Mary Ann Kinsinger & Suzanne Woods Fisher

Author:Mary Ann Kinsinger & Suzanne Woods Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV033010, Amish—Fiction, Family life—New York (State)—Fiction, Schools—Fiction, Friendship—Fiction, New York (State)—Fiction
ISBN: 9781441239723
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

21

A Lesson to Remember

Joseph burst through the kitchen door to find Mama. “A baby bird fell from its nest!” he said, panting. “Can you help me put it back in?”

Mama wiped her hands on her apron and followed Joseph outside. Lily trotted behind her. She wanted to see a baby bird too. She hoped it would be a baby cardinal or maybe a baby goldfinch. Those were the prettiest birds. Those would be the baby birds Lily would want to see.

Joseph was under a tree, kneeling on the ground. Mama crouched down beside him to examine the baby bird. Lily leaned over Mama’s shoulder. What a disappointment! This was a very ugly bird. It was brown with little speckles on its chest. It didn’t look like any bird she had ever seen before.

“It’s a baby robin,” Mama said softly. “Joseph, I’m afraid we can’t put it back into its nest. If the mama bird smells a human scent on this baby or any of the other little birds in the nest, she won’t take care of them.”

Joseph started to cry. “But he’ll die! He needs someone to take care of him.”

Mama thought for a little bit. “There’s a little box in the kitchen. We could make a nest for it in the box and try to feed it until it’s big enough to fly.” She stood. “But it will need a lot of care. You will have to be the bird’s mother. You’ll have to dig for worms so it has something to eat.”

Lily knew that Joseph would not mind digging for worms. He was always digging for worms or trying to catch insects in a net. Sure enough, he ran to the kitchen to get the box. Mama gently lifted the little bird and set it inside. It opened and closed its mouth and made funny little chirping noises.

“Let’s name him Chirp,” Joseph said.

“That sounds like a good name,” Mama said. “It looks as if Chirp is hungry. I think you had better go dig some worms for it.”

Mama carried the box into the house while Joseph ran to the sandbox to get his little shovel, then he rushed off to Mama’s garden to dig for worms. Not much later, he came into the house with three big squirming earthworms in his hands. Mama showed him how to pinch the worms into little pieces to feed to Chirp.

Earthworms made Lily squirm. Watching them be fed, in pieces, to Chirp was too much. She started to gag. Joseph’s bird was ugly and he ate gross things. It was too much for a little girl to bear. She ran upstairs to play with Sally.

But Joseph was a good bird mother. Day after day, he sat next to Chirp’s box to talk to him and feed him when he was hungry—which was often. Joseph didn’t even want to play with Lily or Dannie. All he wanted to do was to take care of Chirp. Lily wished Chirp would hurry up and grow. Joseph was not much fun anymore.

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