RE: Qurator's Mischievous Mondays | The Pet That Wasn't Yours

Every day, he was there. I woke up early and always saw him, whether on the balcony, in the bushes in my backyard, or even flying around the house when I accidentally left the door open. At first, I thought it was charming. “How beautiful! A small part of nature visiting each other!”, I thought. But over time, something began to bother me.

It's not uncommon for wild animals to appear nearby. Who hasn't come across a curious squirrel or bird? However, this little yellow bird with a brown breast didn't seem to be just a casual visitor. Little by little, I noticed that it was becoming more persistent, more present. As if it was always watching and, at certain moments, I swore it was trying to hide from me, as if it had something to disguise.

Survival instinct? Maybe. But my suspicion grew when, a few days ago, I noticed that a 50-dollar bill had disappeared from my wallet. “Am I getting paranoid?” I thought, ”No one has been to my house for weeks... and how can I explain why the money is missing?”

That's when I started to realize something strange. Who would steal a single 50-dollar bill, leaving the rest of the money intact? The only reasonable explanation I could think of was... the bird. Yes, that damn bird.

I decided to put together a plan. I set up some cameras, prepared a trap and left three bills on the dresser. I opened the window and went into the bathroom. I turned on the shower, letting the sound of the water fool him. Meanwhile, I watched everything on my cell phone.

And then it happened. “Bingo!” I thought. I saw the little bird fly up to the dresser, pick up one of the notes with its beak and fly out of the window, heading in the usual direction. I wasted no time. I ran after it.

Did he have some kind of banknote nest? That would be one explanation, maybe this little bird thought he was some kind of “ostentatious” in the neighborhood? as funny as that might be, I was wrong. The bird wasn't going to a nest. It went straight to the house of a boy who had recently moved into the neighborhood. Strange. Coincidentally, this was the same period when the bird started appearing more frequently.

I decided to investigate. I sneaked into the boy's house and what I found was an obsession: a bird sanctuary. He had an impressive collection of birds, all carefully cared for and fed. It was then that I saw him, that same little yellow bird, perched on one of the cages.

When I took him by surprise and tied him up with a rope that was lying nearby, the boy didn't seem nervous. Instead, he looked at me calmly and, without hurrying, said: “You were curious, weren't you? You know, I could teach you how to train birds. I have a gift for it... and you can't imagine what these little guys can do...”

I stood still for a moment, digesting the offer. The idea of training birds had never crossed my mind, but what impressed me most was the boy's calmness in the face of the situation. “What do you mean, training birds?” I asked, still in disbelief.

He smiled, as if expecting my question, and said: “These birds are not ordinary. They have abilities you can't even imagine. We can do much more than just 'feed' them and listen to their humming.”

I took a step back, still trying to understand what was going on. I had just discovered that this little bird, which seemed so innocent, was part of a theft scheme!