24 - A Day's Full Account with the Birds' Nest

Previously on 24

In the morning, I found a bundle of soft moss on the front deck behind my newly built climbing rose trellis. I thought it was brought by the wind. I cleaned up the mess. In the afternoon after I got back from work, I checked on the deck, the little moss turned into circular bedding. By this time I realized it was the birds trying to build a bird nest. The planet earth is over-populated with people but not birds. I've always enjoyed the birds and their singing. Go ahead having more babies and bringing on your family symphony. However, this time their nest was in encrochment with mine. I demolished theirs.

Next Day

- 8:30am
I opened the front door. The birds just built a new nest on the same spot last night. Darn it. I don't want to be mean but....(Simon says). If you push me too hard, I will have to add you to my list of enemies in combat, in the same category as the other cute enemies, you know, deer, frogs…

- 8:35:am
The birds flew in. Male bird: "What the heck? Our nest is gone again, the third time.Where is the nest we spent the whole night building?" Female: "Sure you remember the place right? Should we stop and ask for directions from other birds around us" Male bird: "I don't ask for directions. I swear in our future children's lives, it's here.".

-12:00pm

I opened the door. The nest was built again. You stupid birds. Don’t you know you are wasting you time building here?! Has it ever occurred to you the reason why your nest kept disappearing was that someone didn't like it here? If you were smart enough to understand signage, I could even use some of my real estate arrow signs to redirect you to a comfy site in the woods a few feet away I found for you. If I had a surveillance camera, I would probably just let you had your way so I could make myself a Discovery Channel, but I didn't!

- 12:05pm
The birds flew back with more building materials. As soon as they figured out they had the right place this time, and all along, they knew it was not an accident. It was a terrorist act! Female bird: "We should not waste our time. Let's find another building site.”. Male bird: "We will not give in to terrorism. This is the place we will call home! Let's get busy."

- 5:30pm

It looked like a solid nest. I figured if I had come home a little later, the female bird would have been in labor. By then I would not have had heart to do anything because despite my meanness, 'I don't have a wooden heart'. I rushed to finish the demo work. It started to feel like racing against the clock with the birds. Jack Bauer (played by me on this episode) was on the mission.

- 5:35pm
The birds saw me. Male bird: "It was her, the terrorist! All the time we thought she was our friend. She fooled us as an avid bird watcher but in fact she was just spying on us all these time!" Female bird: "I feel the babies kicking. We are running out of time" Male bird: "There is no negotiation. Let's try again. Let's show her our determination and persistence. Maybe she will finally give up.".

- 6:00pm

I found several fresh moss on the front deck again. It was an easier cleanup thanks to my timely check.

- 6:02pm
The birds were really pissed and frustrated. I heard them chirping loudly. Made no mistake about it. They were not singing. Male bird: "The bitch did it, again!". Female bird: "She is more determined than us. Let's go. I beg you please for our babies' sake.". The male bird finally gave in to the female bird’s plead.

- 8:00am
I stepped out in my pajama. The desk was as clean as I last cleaned it. I was relieved, and tormented at the same time. How I admired the birds' persistence and amazing engineering feats.I couldn't help thinking if we have half of their persistence, what kind of feats we can achieve.

The healthy baby birds were delivered in the emergency room completed just in time, somewhere else. I hope so. I really hope so.