Whistles, the Parrot

Ashrafi Antia tells you what happens when a pet bird is called upon to save the day

Tim and his wife Suzy were at the pet shop. They had decided to gift themselves a pet on their first wedding anniversary. Tim smiled as he recalled what a splash his wedding had made in the tabloids. ‘Young millionaire CEO of software firm weds childhood sweetheart’, read one of the headlines.

A loud wolf whistle brought him out of his reverie. He turned around to see Suzy facing an African Grey parrot’s cage. The bird had long grey feathers, a cherry-red tail and a black beak. It cocked its head to one side and stared back at Suzy before letting out another wolf whistle followed by what sounded like “Prrretty”.

“Would you look at that Suzy? That bird just whistled at you and called you pretty,” remarked Tim. “Prrretty Suzy”, squawked the bird promptly followed by another whistle. “I think he’s fallen for you. Let’s take him”, said Tim.

They decided to name him Whistles after their experience at the shop. Whistles was highly intelligent and devoted to Suzy. He soon learnt to unlock his cage door and would follow Suzy all over the house. He picked up new phrases like “Good boy”, “Hi Buddy”, “Chow time” and “Uh-oh”.

He loved to tease Tim. Often, the phone would ring when Tim was nearby and would stop just as he lifted the receiver, much to his frustration. Sometimes, his mobile would ring and stop as he took it out of his pocket. But surprisingly, there would be no missed call on it. “That’s weird”, he felt, until Suzy doubled up with laughter and told him it was Whistles imitating the phone.

A few years later, Tim and Suzy had a baby girl. Suzy kept telling Whistles, “Keep an eye on the baby for me. You have to look after her”.

One day, when baby Julia was about seven months old and Suzy and Tim had left her in the care of her nanny, the doorbell rang. Two strangers, claiming to be family friends, entered the house. One of them clapped a handkerchief laced with chloroform over the nanny’s face. Soon, she swooned to the ground and the men picked up baby Julia. “Uh-oh!” exclaimed Whistles, sensing something was wrong. He began barking like the neighbour’s dog. “Quick there’s a dog. Let’s get out of here”, cried the crooks, heading for the door.

Whistles flew out of the open window just in time to see the strangers get into a van with the baby and drive off. The van stopped in a quiet suburban neighbourhood. As the men got out, Whistles flew to a nearby tree. He watched as they carried baby Julia into a house across the street.

Whistles flew all around the house but there was no open window for him to get in. Dejected, he went back to the tree to keep a vigil on the house and baby. When Tim and Suzy returned home, they found nanny lying drugged on the floor, baby Julia and Whistles were missing. Tim informed the police about the development. They asked him to wait for the kidnappers to contact him.

In the meantime, Whistles spotted an old man walking his dog. He flew down from the tree and landed on the man’s shoulder. “Hello there,” said the startled old gentleman. “Hi Buddy,” replied Whistles. “You lost?” asked the old man. “Poor baby”, cried Whistles, flying towards the house and then back to the old man’s shoulder. The old man assumed the bird was lost and took Whistles to the nearest police station. The alert young officer put two and two together and guessed this was the missing African Grey parrot.

The cops went back to the location with the old man and Whistles. When they reached the spot, Whistles led them straight to the house flying around it screeching “Poor baby… poor baby”. Sure enough, they found the kidnappers and Julia in the house.

Finally, the family was reunited. Tim hugged Suzy and the baby and said, “I did the smartest thing the day I bought you this parrot”. “Good boy”, cried Whistles. “Yes good boy, Whistles. You sure blew the whistle on those kidnappers. You really are the best”, Tim said.

(Ashrafi is a children’s writer.)