Missing? Impossible!

Originally appeared on spirituality.com

My sister and I had neighboring farms on Cape Cod, each with a variety of animals, each with barns full of sweet straw to shelter these dear creatures. During one February, mid-month, my sister needed to be away from her farm for a week. I decided to make an evening call on her family each night she was away to make sure all the animals were fed, and her family tended to, as her husband worked long hours. On the third dusk that I went over I could hear her children frantically calling, “Beau, Beau, where are you? Please, Beau, come home.” Beau was a beautiful blue and green parrot.

He was a cherished member of the family, who spent every day perched, of all places, on the back of a goat! For some reason Beau and this goat had bonded and loved spending time together. They would bask in a sunny corner of the barnyard. However each evening before dark, the children would bring Beau up to the house where he could be warm in his cage since he was a tropical bird and wouldn’t be able to live in the cold. When I asked what had happened, the children explained that Beau had been spooked by a sudden flurry of activity from the horses and had flown away.

We searched until well after dark, but could find no trace of him. The children were devastated. I did my best to console them and said that I was sure Beau would return. But, oh my gosh, it was February! A bitter cold February night.

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