Black Cockatoo By Raelene Farrell
Black Cockatoo Copyright Š 2019 by Raelene Farrell All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author. Special discounts are available for booksellers or others. Inquire support@bookemon.com Printed in United States of America Bookemon Creative Author Press Publication Publication Date: 2019-05-09 ISBN-13: 9781605008073
Black Cockatoo
By Raelene Farrell Illustrated by Shelley Sopher, Patricia Farrell & Raelene Farrell
Black Cockatoo It was a cold winter’s night in the month of June, when the storm hit there was a full moon. A king tide, fierce winds and record downpours, meant the best place to be was safely indoors.
The ships just offshore were given notice, to move out to sea to escape the storm quite ferocious. One ship didn’t heed the warning, and ran aground on the beach in the early morning.
It was a sight to behold, for young and for old. Little ones on the shoulders of their dads, as they gawked at a ship, on the beach, between the yellow and red flags.
In a nature reserve on the other side of town, strong winds had caused hundreds of trees to fall down. All the birds had escaped because their enclosures were damaged, they recaptured as many as they could manage.
A few weeks later whilst riding my bike, I came across a most unfamiliar sight. Two black cockatoos up a small tree, were grazing on seeds as happy as can be I said to myself, “could they have escaped from the nature reserve and are now living in my suburb�?
More than ten years has passed since that dreadful storm and it has come to be quite the norm, for the black cockatoo’s unmistakable squark to be heard in these parts from morning till dark.
The text books say that their numbers are in decline, but just the other day I saw a flock of nine. Living conditions for these birds must be ideal, something good coming from such an ordeal. Because I like to think, perhaps you do too, it’s because of that storm we have our black cockatoo.
The events in this story took place in my home town, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, on the June long weekend of 2007.