FINCH
Javier Sobrino
Federico Delicado
For my little chicks Adrián and Gael, who fly by my side with all their love. — Javier Sobrino — “Now I fly again, I have white wings ...” — Hilario Camacho —
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Finch Text © 2019 Javier Sobrino Illustrations © 2019 Federico Delicado This edition © 2019 Cuento de Luz SL Calle Claveles, 10 | Urb. Monteclaro | Pozuelo de Alarcón | 28223 | Madrid | Spain www.cuentodeluz.com Title in Spanish: Pinzón English translation by Jon Brokenbrow Printed in PRC by Shanghai Chenxi Printing Co., Ltd. January 2019, print number xxx ISBN: 978-84-16733-52-1 All rights reserved
FINCH
Javier Sobrino
Federico Delicado
The morning my life changed, I was still feeling sleepy as the warm sun rose. My father told me to start my exercises, but they exhausted me. With the sun on my feathers, I curled up in our cozy nest, and soon fell back to sleep.
Some time later—I don’t know how long it was—my mom woke me up. I saw her perched on a branch, staring at me. I stretched, and stood up. She flew off, and I climbed onto the edge of the nest. Just then, something hit the tree, and I fell into space. I closed my eyes as I fell past the leaves and branches, until I hit the ground. Luckily, I landed on some soft moss. I stretched my little wings, and felt that I hadn’t hurt myself in the fall.
While I was still recovering from the shock, I heard a human voice saying, “Look Daddy, a little bird. There’s a little bird under the laurel tree.” I didn’t know what to do, and I ran; but a hand swooped down and lifted me into the air. Two humans, a big one and a little one, were looking at me and blowing onto my feathers. My heart was beating frantically. The little one stroked my head with his fingers, and said: “Daddy, what kind of bird is it?” “It’s a finch. They sing beautifully, but this one is still a baby.” “Then we’ll call him Finch,” said the little boy. “That’s a nice name, Artie. Good idea,” said his father.
I gradually calmed down, and my heart stopped beating so fast. They put me in a box with cold, hard bars. Inside there was a nest, some water, some fruit, and some grain that I’d never tasted before. The little boy looked at me for a long while. His father hung the cage under a roof beam. A short time later, they left.
“Freedom is best, even with all its dangers.” In this heart-pounding adventure, a young finch falls from his family’s nest and into the life of a young boy and his father. The finch spends a harrowing night in a cage, barely escaping the clutches of a barn owl, and other threats. The next day, the boy offers the bird an unexpected chance at freedom. Will he take it?