Bluey, Come Home

"Bluey, come home! Please come home," Kris called. She stared out the window at the rain streaming down, while tears streamed down her cheeks. Somewhere out there her parakeet was lost.

She had loved him so much. And she thought he loved her, too. He used to come out of his cage and sit on her finger every day. When she played music on her record player, Bluey danced for her.

But then one day someone left the front door open, and Bluey flew out of the house.

Bluey thought it was wonderful to be free. He had never been outdoors before. The sun sparkled on his blue and white feathers as he flew through the air. Bluey fluttered down to drink from a birdbath in a garden. In another garden he found some birdseed to eat. But soon it was starting to get dark. It was getting cold now.

Bluey thought of how warm and comfortable his cage was. But when he tried to fly home, he didn't know which way to go. All the streets looked alike to him. Bluey was lost. And it was getting colder.

Bluey perched on a tree limb to rest. He looked about him. There, in the trunk of the tree near his branch, there was a dark hole. Bluey walked along the branch toward it. He poked his head inside. It seemed warm inside the hole. He thought this might be a good place to spend the night. He hopped in and landed on something soft. Suddenly there was a screech. A squirrel had been taking a nap in the hole. Now she was awake -- and she was angry!

Bluey did not wait to find out what made the noise. In a flash he shot out of the hole.

The little parakeet flew up one street and down another. He was searching for his home.

Suddenly Bluey spotted a lighted window. Curled up on the window sill was an orange-striped cat. It looked just like Ginger, Kris' cat. Bluey used to play with Ginger. Sometimes he even perched on Ginger's back. He flew down through the open window and gave the cat's ear a friendly peck. The cat woke up. It hissed and reached up to slash at Bluey with its claws. Bluey fluttered up, leaving a small feather in the cat's paw. This was not Ginger! And it wasn't Kris' house. Out the window he flew, out into the night.

For nearly an hour the tired and frightened little parakeet flew about the city. Suddenly, from the open door of a building he heard some music. It sounded like the music that Kris used to play on her record player. Bluey swooped down and fluttered in through the open door.

Bluey was in a large room. It was filled with people. Some were dancing. Others were sitting at tables, eating and drinking. It was a night club.

Bluey hopped down onto an empty table. There on the clean white tablecloth, he began to dance. A woman at the next table noticed him and began to giggle. Her husband turned his chair around to get a better look. Soon people at other tables noticed the dancing parakeet. They gathered around to watch.

The manager noticed the commotion and came over to see what was wrong. When he saw Bluey, he picked up a napkin and tried to shoo the bird away. "Don't!" cried the people. "Let him dance!"

So the manager had the crew shine the spotlight on the table where Bluey was dancing.

Night after night Bluey danced in the night club. People came from all over the city to see him. Each night there was a long line of people outside the nightclub waiting to get in.

One evening Kris and her parents happened to drive by. "I wonder what that big crowd is," said Kris' father. He slowed the car down.

Suddenly Kris saw the big poster outside the door of the night club. "That's Bluey!" she cried, pointing to the picture. "Stop, Daddy!"

Kris' father stopped at the curb. "That's not Bluey, Dear," Kris' mother said. "It's just a parakeet they trained."

"No, it's Bluey!" Kris cried. And before they could stop her, she opened the door of the car and dashed toward the entrance of the night club. She pushed her way through the crowd and raced across the floor to the table where Bluey was dancing.

"Bluey!" she cried, and held out her hand. The little parakeet stopped dancing and hopped up on her outstretched finger.

Her father explained to the manager how Kris had lost her parakeet. Kris and her parents got a free dinner, and after the show they took Bluey home. But every Saturday night they brought Bluey back to dance again.

©1972, 2013 The Silversteins