Zeph, the Bird with the Blue Nike Shoes

“Coo- coo”

 “Coo-coo”

Zeph fluttered his wings, gently landing on the top of a swing set. He cocked his head to the side, like pigeons do, and saw two kids swinging out of the corner of his eye. They looked alike- braids, pink overalls, and blue Nikes; just like his!

Zeph dropped down to the ground near the girls, wondering if they’d notice. He strutted along in the sand, out of reach of kicking range as they swung out and back, out and back, out and back. He just kept bobbing forward, head going front to back, front to back, front to back. Then- BOOM!

    His plan worked!

    “OMG!” Yelled Jessie. “Look at that Pigeon!”

    “What?” Said Sarah. “What about him?”

    “LOOK AT HIS SHOES!” Said Jessie, “LOOK AT THEM!”

    “OMG!” Yelled Sarah. “The pigeon is wearing shoes!”

    “Yes but LOOK AT THEM!” said Jesse.

    “WOW- We MATCH!”

    “THAT’S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU!” said Jessie.

    “AMAZING! said Sarah. “That’s so funny. Where did he get them?”

    “We’ll never know,” said Jesse.

    Zeph was happy that the girls noticed him and his cool shoes. He fluttered over and landed on the first empty swing in their row, showing off his feet.

    “Hello pigeon,” said Sarah. “Where did you get those shoes?”

    “Coo,” said Zeph. “Coo, Coo, Coo!”

Sarah and Jessie laughed. They laughed and laughed and laughed. Jesse ran to get their mom, so they could take a bunch of pictures.

    “Don’t get too close,” said mom. “Pigeons are filthy.”

Zeph heard that and was insulted. “GEEZ!” He thought. “Hurtful!” But he didn’t care too much, because he was very excited that he’d found some kids to notice him at the park.

Sarah pointed to the top of her swing, and Zeph flew over. And then Jessie stood behind Sarah. And they got some special photos. Three friends in matching shoes…

 The daffodils were blooming, the sun was shining, and more kids were crowding around. Zeph flew around all of them in a big open circle. Everyone looked up and saw him up in the sky…the bird with the blue Nike shoes.

 A reporter happened to be taking a walk in the park, and strolled over to the scene.

    “What’s happening,” she said?

    “Look at that bird with the blue Nike shoes “ said one of the kids… “They match the twin’s shoes!”

    “Wow,” said the reporter. “I’m going to write a story about this for the evening news!”

Later, when the girls were at home with their families, they turned on the TV and saw themselves on the news with Zeph! Blue shoes, big smiles, and an enormous headline:

    “PIGEON AND GIRLS HAVE AFTERNOON SHOE-SHOW AT THE PARK!”

Their phones started ringing, their friends started texting, and that was the beginning of a long friendship with a curious bird named Zeph. A pigeon with blue Nike shoes.

The end