You want a pet but you don’t know what exactly you should get. A dog is out of the question since your flat is too small, and besides it would just be cooped up in there the whole day long while you went to work. A cat might be a good pet. It’s independent, it can take care of itself, and you can still come home to a warm living body that will curl up to you. But what about pet birds? Did you ever think of getting a bird for a pet?

You didn’t, but the idea intrigues you. It’s not something that had ever crossed your mind, but it had definite possibilities. On second thoughts though, you feel that you might go for a pet cat instead. Less hassle all around you feel.

So you wander on down to your pet store one glorious sunny day with the intention of getting yourself a pet cat, or kitten as the case may be. You walk in and are greeted by the sight of birdcages, bird houses, bird baths, and even a bird feeder. You stop in surprise and look around just to make sure that you’ve actually come to the pet store and not a bird store. You’re in the pet store alright, there are the dogs in one corner, the cats, squirrels, and bunnies in other corners and all in their respective cages.

What’s overwhelming you though is the noise of the screeching birds. They’re all going at it full voiced and you can barely hear yourself think let alone hear the proprietor apologize for the whole mess. He was rearranging some of the stuff and the birds got excited. You are now doubly glad that you didn’t decide on pet birds as your choice of pet.

You notice that you’re the only customer around and with good reason. You might also be tempted to leave and come again on a quieter day, but you came down here for a purpose. If you put off getting a pet for longer you might not get one in the near future. So you square your shoulders, block out the noise and tell the kind little man at your elbow that you were looking to adopt a cat.

You’re taken down a winding alleyway of colorful fish tanks and straight on past an array of screaming birds. As you pass the last one however, your attention is caught. This lone bird isn’t screeching, isn’t making any kind of sound but is instead regarding you with a steady eye. You move forward and it moves its head along with you. You move sideways, the same thing happens. Intrigued you move this way and that watching in entranced delight as this little beauty follows your every move.

That’s when the snare falls and you find yourself leaving the store with the very thing that you told yourself you didn’t want a pet bird. At least you can tell yourself that it wasn’t pet birds.