The Twins

I was going to write about my weekend, where I had the most pleasure of meeting Her, her brother, and her sweet adorable mom.

But... After reading Patch's entry, my mind was stroked by a flash from the past.

I've never mention 'The Twins' to anyone outside of my family. The incident I had with the twins wasn't anything naughty that I wouldn't want to share. It was an unforgettable incident that I experienced when I was still a tender young innocent shy fragile 14 years old BOY.

At the house where my family used to live, we have this backyard where the previous own planted lots of fruit trees. (So, imagine, during Fall, the fruits would fall and rot and the juice would attract ants from all over...) Because of the trees, nests of Birdies were all over as well.

Because I was still in my midget size, I was never able to see what's happening inside of the nest. Even if I stood on the patio, on the 2nd floor, I wouldn't be able to peek into the nests.

All I know, at the end of the Spring season, the nests would fall from the tree and landed on our lawn. (Mom said that once the baby birds grown, they would destroy their old home and leave no evidence of their trail.)

I forgot what time of the year it was, but when I was releasing my doggie out to the yard, I saw a nest in its perfect form sitting underneath the pine tree. Elf, wondered off to the other side of the yard as I walked toward the fallen nest.

The close I get to the nest, the more noticeable the two little heads peaking out from it.

BIRDS!

OH MY GAWD!

BIRDS!

The nest was probably knocked off from the tree by the wind, but the baby birds survived Mother Nature's test... The little twin birds rode the little nest like Alien, and landed perfectly on the lawn.

Their eyes barely opened, feathers barely grown... They tiny skinny bodies trembled as I picked the nest up. They were amazingly young.

I rushed back into the house and told Mom about it.

"Just leave them there and their parents will come pick them up."

Well, the weather was cold, and my neighbor had 7 cats. I wasn't too sure if I should leave them out in the yard. So, like a mother in training, I took out a cardboard box from the garage, placed a sheet of newspaper at the bottom, a layer of thin cloth, and then on top of that, I placed the nest in the middle.

After fetching Elf back into the house, I sat near the living room next to the window, waited for parent birds to show up.

I waited and waited... And saw no signs of parent birds.

They probably thought the twins didn't survived the fall...

So around 6:00 PM at night, I gave up the hope that I would see the parents searching for their twins. I took the matter in my own hands. I crushed some rice with the hammer, and soaked the pieces in water. Once the rice piece were soft enough, I picked the pieces up using the straw and attempt the feed the twins.

As soon as the straw was near their beck, their little head would turn away.

They were either not hungry, or refused to eat.

Then I tried to feed them some water... And same thing. They would turn away from me.

Within the next couple hours, I checked on them and attempt to feed them - but gotten the same result.

Maybe they were still recovering from shock.

Before heading to bed, I placed the cardboard box on my desk, turn on the little night light next to it. I wrapped an old T-shirt around the next and pull parts of the sleeve to the nest... Partially covered the twins' fragile body with it.

Maybe after good night sleep, they will forget about the fall.

In the morning, I rushed to my desk as soon as I woke from my sleep.

I saw two limp heads laying against the edge of the nest. Motion-less and Breath-less. Their eye lids were closed - same with their claws. Some fluid was found near their little pecks... Dehydration, I thought. The two little twins must have passed away sometime at night.

Tears rolled around the edge of my eyes as I screamed in my head:

How can I be so stupid to think that I can take care of the birds?

I carried the cardboard box down stairs and told my mom about what happened.

"Ah-Wei ah, maybe it is something they couldn't escape in their fate. At least they died full-form in your T-shirt, not pieces in a cat's stomach."

"I feel so sad." Fighting to keep the tears from running down my cheeks.

"Don't be. Maybe they are happier up there now. Put the box right there, and I will take care of them. Now, get ready for school."

I nodded my head.