Duncan Takes a Vacation

Chapter 1

                You would think that having everything you ever wanted would make you feel happy.  Take me, for example, I live in a nice home with a family that loves me.  I have no responsibilities or chores to do.  There is always plenty of food in my dish, and I have the run of the house.  I can stay up as late as I want to and sleep 'till the late hours of the morning.  I guess anyone would be happy to live the life that I do. 

          So what's my problem?  Why doesn't all of this make me happy?  I can answer these questions in six little letters - "B-O-R-I-N-G!"  Actually, the word boring is putting it mildly.  See, you have to appreciate the kind of person I am.  First, I'm not exactly a person; in fact I'm not exactly human either. The blue feathers on my body are a dead giveaway. 

          How many people do you know who have a beak instead of lips, and long three-toed feet?  Weird, huh?  Not for me because I come from a long line of parrots.  My father was a parrot like his father and his father before him.  As a matter of fact, I'm not an ordinary parrot either, I'm a Macaw parrot, and my name is Duncan.  My family comes from South America, but I was born and raised in Southern California.  I was bought from a pet store by a family of nice people and have been living with them for over a year now.  Jimmy, my best friend, and Big Bird on Sesame Street, taught me all I know, and I can read and talk almost as good as any human.  Pretty good for a bird, isn't it? 

          Now, back to the problem about my boring life.  I realize I have all I need and should be grateful for what I have. I truly am, but the life of a parrot isn't as glamorous as it seems.  For example, here is my schedule on a typical summer day: 

6:00 A.M. - Wake up and eat.

6:15 A.M. - Make noise and get someone's attention to let me out of my cage.

6:30 A.M. - Sit on my perch and watch the family eat breakfast.

7:00 A.M. - Watch Sesame Street on television.

7:30 A.M. - Read the morning paper while sitting on Dad's shoulder.

8:00 A.M. - Sent back to my cage because I had an accident on Dad's shoulder.

          I'm sure you don't want me to go on because the rest of the day is even more boring than the morning.  Yet, my life wasn't always boring; the past year was filled with fun and excitement, but something happened, and I couldn't put my beak on it.

          Actually, I wasn't the only one who was bored with life: my family also seemed to be affected by this boredom. I had been thinking about a solution for a long time, but couldn't seem to come up with a plan. 

          One day, while sitting on my perch, I noticed an unusual television commercial that captured my interest. 

          The announcer asked, "Are you bored?" 

          I answered, "How did you know that?" 

          The voice continued, "We have the solution to all your problems." 

          I then said, "Lay it on me, Dude!" 

          Suddenly, the words "TAKE A VACATION" appeared on the screen.  I thought that this could be the solution to our problem: Take a vacation.

          My next problem was to convince the family that taking a vacation was the thing to do.  I set the wheels a turning in my little birdbrain and had to come up with a plan of action.