The Story of Issacs Day Out - Part 1

[Elvenking]

(This had to be split into two threads because the limit on a thread is 10000 characters. I got going and couldn't help it)

 

So how did this all happen? It only takes a second. This last Sunday, my daughter and I were at my apartments having a wonderful day of swimming, playing on the Wii, and BBQing hamburgers. The day was going great! Until the moment I was holding a plate of hamburgers on my way outside. I stopped for a second to recognize what my daughter was acheiving on the game she was playing. So I was talking to her and still heading out. Unrecognized by me soon enough, Issac had landed on my shoulder, the curious little guy he is, to see what I was up to. He flys to me and lands on my shoulder a lot so it was easy to have happen in the background without my immediate notice, especially since I was distracted and not used to being distracted at home. I am usually by myself so that doesn't happen much. Anyway, before I realized it, I had passed through the screen door with him on y shoulder. The very instant I relaized what I had done, Issac bolted! I can tell you, never before had such a distressed "NOOOOO!!!!" come out of my mouth. It resonated throughout the complex, and my heart dropped slowly. I couldn't even fully appreciate what had just happened. I dropped everything and tried to run out to find him. He flew due north then banked left toward the west. I had totally lost sight of him after that. Running aound the complex whistling for him and hoping to hear from him. Nothing. I cried and cried "No not my baby..why...why". This scared and saddened my daughter as she had never seen her father fall apart like this. I was incredibly crushed and I have never felt such heartache. I kept looking at his cage in disbelief. The life was completely sucked out of my apartment. Total devistation set in and my daughter comforted me by holding on to me and hugging me. She is the sweetest little 7-year-old ever. So after that, I had someone pick my daughter up, because the hunt for baby was on.

 

I had a friend come over to help me spread fliers and drive around looking for him. The one saving grace was that I had a way to find him without spotting him physically. Over the months I have had Issac, I do the contact call game with him all the time. If he wants to know where I am, he can call out, and I will say that I am there. If I want to get his attention and have him come to me, I can whistle and he immediately responds with his call back, and will come to me as well sometimes. So I am going all over the place whistling for him. Hoping for anything. At about 8:30PM, I get a response from the trees about 100 yards from my apartment. It was still slightly light. I think he tried to see if he could come to me, because after a few calls, I saw him take flight, but he ended up heading away in the other direction and I lost sight of him again. It got dark and I had to call off the search for the night and hope he was going to hunker down in the nearby trees for the night. Me, I drank enough beer so that I could sleep some during the night. The mood in my place was extremely sullen and low. There was no fluttering of wings, no poop to pick up, no little firend to play with. I realized that there was not really anything that I had been doing for the last 7 months, that did not somehow invlovle Issac. I cried and cried. I closed my eyes in bed and thought to myself, "Please come home baby, please don't go far and know that I need you baby. Please, please, please".

 

The next morning I got up at 6:30AM and went out the door to track him. Didn't bother to shower, just grabbed my lost-bird supplies and went. I was walking through the neighborhood where I saw him fly to and finally got a response call at about 8AM. He flew a couple more times, I suppose trying to figure out what to do. He ended up landing in a tree where I could see him. Finally, I could see my baby! He was probably about 75 feet up, and there was no way to climb this tree. So I got his forumla cup which always send him flying to me at home. I quickly realized that I didn't have all the triggers of my home environment to work with. Because mixing the formula invlovles more than just the cup. I walk into the kitchen, operate the microwave and such. So it was more difficult. He was up there preening and making his cute noises like nothing was wrong. I think he was enjoying himself. While I was down on the ground, worried to death. He ended up flying off. It looked like he was trying to get to me, so i ran out in the middle of the street, held out my hand and was saying, "Wanna eat boy? C'mere, c'mere" He was just flying large circles overhead. He got pretty low, and it looked like he was coming...but no dice, and he escaped my view again. I had lost him again with no responses to my calls. So I went home to eat because I was about to pass out from being so hungry. I fed myself and showered and then got back out there. To keep it slightly shorter, I had no luck with responses between the hours of 12 and 4. Just a ton of going to every house by the strip of trees he was flying within and handing out posters. Then climbing the hills behind those houses to check for him in the trees. When I would return home, I would see the toys in the same position he left them before he flew away and it would break my heart. I stared at the area where he last pooped and I had cleaned it and just wished he would come back, and poop some more all over the place. I had taken a quick nap in the afternoon because I was completely exhausted and sore from all of the tracking. When I dosed off, in a dream I saw him in his cage and I felt like the whole thing was a dream. When I woke up I ran to the room and was quickly reminded that it wasn't a dream at all. Super sad.

[pearllyn]

Oh my goodness Steven! How awful for you! I sooo hope this has a happy ending.

[danmcq]

Thanks for part one and the happy ending in part two.

[Janfromboone]

so sad. I know I would be equally devistated if Tobie were to leave.

[Elvenking]

so sad. I know I would be equally devistated if Tobie were to leave.

 

I hope you will read Part 2.....much better.