He said his name was Nelson and he wanted to come home with me. I tried to explain to him that I didn’t think he would like being inside and that the availability of fresh fish was extremely limited at my house.
It was at that point
when he asked if there were other animals living with me, and I explained about
Scooter, the cat. He asked if Scooter
had a supply of fresh fish. Then I had
to explain about cat food and how it comes in a can and that I doubt he’d like
it. He asked me what it tasted like and
I had to tell him I didn’t know. “I have
never tasted it. I can tell you,
however, it smells just as bad as fish does.
Maybe even worse.”
Then Nelson asked, “What
do you mean when you say – inside?”
“I live in a
house. It is an environmentally
controlled place, where I don’t get wet when it rains and I don’t get snowed on
in the winter.”
I had forgotten that
Nelson had never experienced winter and had no clue what snow was. Our conversation was getting way too involved
and other people were starting to take an interest in me standing here talking
with a pelican. I thought I should just
cut the conversation short and explain to Nelson that it was time for me to
leave.
Again, he asked if he
could just come with me. I asked him why
he wanted to leave this nice beach and the fresh air and the freedom of being
outside.
“It’s the tourist.
They drive me nuts. Most of them want to
take my picture. Why? I don’t know.
Some try to touch me. I snap at
them and they back away. All of them are
litter bugs. They toss their trash
everywhere. What do they care, it’s not
where they live. What do they do with
the pictures, anyway?”
“I think they show
them to their friends and then stick them somewhere, eventually throwing them
out. The really clever ones add them to
their Blog and then make up stories about them.”
“What’s a Blog?”
“I really do need to
leave. I’ll see you later, Nelson.”
ZC
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