Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Twitter, My Miracle Bird

While animals aren’t a big part of my writing, I made revisions to Strike Four with the chirps of my parakeet Twitter filling my home office. Twitter was a good bird, gray with blue accents. He was independent, not confined to his cage, but his wings were clipped so he couldn’t sustain flight for extended periods. One winter day, he escaped off my apartment balcony, and I searched our complex tirelessly for him, even offering a reward. No luck. Since it was a brutal, snowy winter, I eventually lost hope I’d see Twitter again. Six months later, while walking to the complex swimming pool, I saw a young Asian girl carrying a cage with a gray bird. I complimented her pet, but leaning in for a closer look saw that it was Twitter! I walked the girl and her bird back to her apartment, where I made my case to her mother. I learned the bird had flown onto their balcony in December, and they took it in. As the girl had spent birthday money to “feather its cage,” I offered a small reward. She held out for more. Thinking this was becoming extortion, I happily paid it to get my bird back. Forever after, I referred to Twitter as my Miracle Bird.