Weird Sisters

"See, we love each other. 

We just don't happen to like each other very much."

~ from the cover of The Weird Sisters  by Eleanor Brown

I am taking care of three finches currently.  When I entered the apartment to check on them last Tuesday, I found two lying on the bottom of the cage.  My heart leapt into my throat and I began to panic.  After so many weeks of looking after them, in this my final week intrusted to care for them, two of them are sick!  No sooner had I thought it then the one fluttered away to the top of the cage, absolutely fine.

I checked the resources I had on a finch illnesses and found a few cures for what may be ailing the small bird unable to flutter more than three inches on his own.  As I prepared what I hoped would be the solution, the two other healthy birds returned to the care they had been taking of the sick one before I entered their home.  They flew close to him, chirping soft sounds of healing, trying to help him however they could.  Most days, I would find the three chasing one another, chirping loudly at one another and fluttering all over the place.  I was pretty concerned about the health of the bird considering the behavior of the other two.

The next day, I returned early in the day, hoping for the best but prepared to find him even worse off.  Luckily, the former had occurred and I found the sick bird in the top cage, chirping normally.  I was so happy that the cures had worked!  But, I was more amazed by the change in the birds' interactions with one another.  The previously sick bird was still weak and nestled into one of the two nests in the top corners of the cage.  The white bird, who I had first discovered nursing the sick bird on the bottom of the cage, was guarding that nest from the other bird, who had suddenly returned to their old behaviour.

As relieved as I was to see the bird recovering, I missed the peace that had existed between the birds when the one needed it the most.  It interested me to, as I am one of three sisters.  As it goes, I suppose, we have each other's backs when we need it most, but we won't always be peaceful with one another when life has returned to normal.