Peckle's Premonition by Mr. Pw We have a new animal friend. His name is Peckle. He is a bright yellow baby bird. A chick with a head almost as big as his big round body. He has a pointy beak, and tiny good-for-nothing wings. His wings barely reach up to cover his ear holes when the neighbor's dog starts barking at 7am each morning. Each morning, kj consults Peckle on the day. He is turning out to be a smart one, full of an unusual amount of curiosity and wisdom. On Sunday morning, he asked us this: "Am I going to change color?" What a fantastic, child-like question to ask. Maybe Peckle thought that one day he would magically turn teal green. Or a bright maroon. Or maybe get a red underside, like Little Bird. It was in the midst of these thoughts, that kj clarified Peckle's question. "He wants to know if he'll change color because we keep touching him all the time. He's worried about getting dirty." Oh. So that was it. I think I told Peckle no, trying to reassure him. That evening, Peckle, kj and I met kj's parents for dinner. Unfortunately, I parked the SUV over a puddle on kj's side. She climbed out, and went to open the back door. She was pulling clothes out of the back when Peckle jumped out of the Xterra and landed face down in the puddle. Kj did her obligatory scream, and then another just for fun. Peckle's bright yellow fur was pretty dirty. Several shades darker. He fell in a muddy puddle. His little felt feet were dripping wet. "You see! He knew! Peckle knew he would get dirty today! He had a premonition!" kj exclaimed. :: more Stories ============================================