Chuckaboo

Flash fiction for Sci-Friday

Update:

In an exciting turn of events, I am in the process of putting together a sci-fi anthology. My talented daughter, Alyssa, is the book cover designer! Watch for An Orb Over the Strawberry Moon and Other Sci-Fi Tales, coming soon!

Thank you to all who support me and read my stories, I appreciate you!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

~Nancy

Becoming best friends with a cockatiel at the age of 87 was not on Elly’s bucket list. But then, she didn’t think she was going to be “shoved away into Glen Acres Nursing Home like an old shoe”, as she put it, either. She was grateful she had Jake, and she let her best friend sit on her arm for hours, sharing deep secrets and deciphering large print crossword puzzles together. Elly loved pampering her bird, and even fed him treats like roasted peanuts and green grapes and taught him her favorite words from Victorian novels like “skilamalink” and “chuckaboo”.

The white cockatiel cawed and then hopped on Elly’s shoulder, riding along with her as she powered her wheelchair into the lounge. He bopped his head to the bouncy jazz music playing through the speaker. His white feathers rustled in the slight breeze of the air conditioner and he brushed his cheek next to Elly’s face. She cuddled into him. “Who’s my beautiful boy?” Elly said, brushing his playful crest. “Are you my chuckaboo?” Her shaky hands took a bunch of green grapes from a plastic bag and pulled one from the stem. She offered it to him and he crunched it with his black beak.

“Jake’s a good boy,” the cockatiel sang. “Jake’s a chuckaboo.”

“Yes, you are, you’re my wonderful chuckaboo, darling.” She chuckled and gave him a kiss. She pushed another grape into his beak. Nurse Chandi smiled and bent down to her.

“Elly, your daughter’s on the Hologram to visit you.”

Elly scowled. She kept petting Jake’s white feathers with her speckled brown hand, her skin thin as rice paper. Candace stuck me in here, and never comes to see me. The nerve. Elly sat up in the wheelchair and her neck stiffened as the Hologram laser was placed on the table beside her. A 3D image of a woman with a pageboy bob beamed through. “Hi Mom, long time, no see.”

“I don’t know why my daughter stuck me in this God forsaken home, Jake,” she told the cockatiel, avoiding Candace’s stare. “Jake, I know you’d never do anything like that to me, would you, my pretty boy?”

“Mom, I can hear everything you’re saying,” Candace said, annoyed. “I didn’t stick you here, we agreed this was the best place for you, remember?” The 3D image crackled and Nurse Chandi adjusted the Hologram laser. Candace’s image came back into focus.

“And why can’t you come here and see me in person? What’s with the damn hologram, anyway?”

“Mother,” Candace sighed. “You know I can’t come see you that easily, I’m thousands of miles away.”

“Jake’s a pretty boy,” the cockatiel interrupted. “Jake loves Elly. He would never stick her in a nursing home.”

“When did you get that bird?” Candace crumpled her nose. “He’s mouthy. Are cockatiels really that smart?”

Nurse Chandi bent down and whispered into the 3D hologram. Candace’s eyes grew wide.

“Don’t talk like that about my best bird,” Elly cooed. She pecked his cheek. “We’re birds of a feather, and we stick together.”

Nurse Chandi chuckled. “Oh yes, Elly and Jake are a team, Candace. Your mom just loves that bird.”

“Jake, Jake what’s wrong boy?” Elly’s voice broke. The cockatiel shook and his comb drooped. He fell over onto the tile floor with a crack. “Nurse, what’s happened to my bird? What’s wrong with Jake?”

Nurse Chandi scurried over to Elly’s side and stared at the cockatiel. He lay fragile and still, his pupils round and glassy. Jake shook slightly and then his eyes melted into slits. “Jake model 24000 Battery recharge needed. Thank you.”

“Aww, Elly, I’m so sorry. We’re going to have to recycle this Jake and get you a new one,” Nurse Chandi said. An orderly came by and scooped Jake up into a dustpan.

Tears bathed Elly’s wrinkled face. “Jake’s not real?” She stared off into the distance, the light gone from her eyes. “Nothing is real around here, nothing.”

Nurse Chandi put her hand on Elly’s shoulder. “There there, Elly, don’t worry, we’ll get you another bird. A new and improved Jake – a Model 25000. Do you want him to be white again? Or maybe gray this time?”