I Luh Ya Pippa

I LUH YA PIPPA A SHORT STORY

By Danny Ninal

All Rights Reserved 2014 Danny NInal

This is dedicated to the Tolentino Family, Jun, Doreen, Aaron and Winter whose love of their pet inspired this story about the sweetest parrot I have even seen.

I L U H YA P I P PA A Short Story

By Danny Ninal

A group of teenagers were dancing like there’s no tomorrow. Wearing shorts, that were really short it barely covered the essentials, the girls attracted the attention of boys (of all ages). But their choreography was so good even the women (of all ages, too), stopped and joined the fun. The music was blaring all over the park.

I luh ya papi, I luh ya papi I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi I luh ya papi “Wah kayd oh song is dat?” one of the Asians asked, seriously confused and way out of sync. His friends were resting on the bench after having finished their taeboo-thing, which they always do this time of day.

I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi I luh ya papi Kids were singing along with the teenagers. Even the dogs seem to have synched their steps with the tempo of the music, with their tails waggling to the catchy tune. The praying mantises were enjoying every beat of it, bobbing their heads, raising both front legs, almost saying like, “to the left” 2-3-4 “to the right” 2 -3-4, “left 2-3 4, right 2-3-4….”

I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi Yeah that my papi I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi Except for the crickets who were surprisingly quiet, all the animals in the park were obviously caught up with the music and were moving either their heads or their feet to the beat, including the newest addition to the park, a parrot called Pepper.

I luh ya, luh ya, luh ya Pippa

Those words brought back his memories to a place where he felt love, experienced that strange feeling, and cherished it forever in his heart (if he has one). If they only knew that he was not parroting when he said “I luh yah.”

He bobbed his head, while his thoughts were brought back to the past, a not very distant past.

5

TWO YEARS AND FIVE MONTHS AGO He was brought by a family to their home, and welcomed him as their own. They gave him a nice cage, which was an irony, because no matter how nice, it still reminded him that he was not free to fly wherever he wanted to. The total concept of freedom had been really convoluted and had become relative. In this modern age of information, when there would have been no boundaries of time and space, he was still enclosed inside a cage, free to move, but within the boundaries defined by somebody else.

The end had started. He thought it would be a matter of time before he would stop considering the possibility of him flying free to wherever his wings could go.

So much like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, he would want to reach to a place where no parrot had ever been to. His philosophy in life, if at all parrots have one, had always been EXCELLENCE. “Never ever settle for mediocrity.” But then again, that could only be thought of within the context of freedom, or the lack of it.

They called him Pepper, and he was not really sure why. He would have preferred Quentin, because that would have sounded so masculine. But Pepper? It only brought him the scary thoughts of being fried, with lots of salt and pepper, or something like that. So when they called him Pepper, it was not much of a consolation. And they even mispronounced it to sound like Pippa, which made him feel like the sister of a Duchess of Cambridge. So much with macho image, Pepper thought.

But as each day passed, when he had felt the love that they showered upon him, he started to feel different. He even started kissing the young girl who always put him on her shoulders. He loved her smile. She’s cute. He could not remember if it was her who gave him the name, Pepper, but he was sure it was her dad who started calling him, Pippa. Since then everybody called him Pippa.

The family knew instantly that Pippa was sweet, at times moody, but they all agree on one thing - Pippa was a flirt. He couldn’t understand why, and he will have to ask the smart owl in the park or the intelligent bench in front of the tallest tree in the park, and ask what exactly “flirt” meant. Of course he whistled a lot, that’s what Pippa learned first and it always made people smile or laugh. When he whistled, it always made everybody happy. That was why he whistled a lot.

But he called him a flirt because he whistled a lot? What? They should have seen his friend, but that was for another story in the park.

Pippa started to feel the love they had for him. Especially that boy, who never stopped coddling Pippa even if he bit the boy all the time. But he continued to care for the new parrot of the house. Even the mother, who left the house early morning, always gave him a good neck rub when she came home at night. But Pippa always knew that the father liked him because he was quiet and did not make noise too often. In fact, he was pretty laid back and very affectionate, or so they thought.

The house was filled with music, whether it was the young girl playing the piano, or the boy playing the guitar, or even the father and mother doing karaoke. It was filled with music, and Pippa loved it a lot. He even started to sing, but he didn’t know if the family liked it, because they always laughed when he started singing.

Photos by Danielle Angelika Ninal

And the next two years were the best two years of his life. Pippa didn’t mind the cage anymore. He considered it his bedroom, where he went to rest after the day was over. It’s also his kitchen, because there was always food in it. So even the cage which he used to detest, had been transformed into a place of love. He never thought it would end, and that it would come between him and his new sense of freedom.

He started seeing less and less of the young girl whom he loved most.

And every time she came home, Pippa would be so excited he couldn’t wait for her to get him out of the cage so he could kiss her (without being flirty of course). It was an event that Pippa had learned to register in his body clock. So that when weekend comes and she didn’t come home, Pippa would start to feel sad and depressed.

He didn’t know if this became obvious to the father and mother, because Pippa could hear them discussing freedom more often. Until one day, with tears in her eyes, the mother came to him and rubbed his neck, and told him that he would be set free. Suddenly freedom was not as attractive as he had thought it to be. Flying where his wings could go was not a motivation anymore. For what good was freedom if you are separated from your loved one.

Then the day arrived, that dreadful day when they went to the park and released him from the cage so he could fly up to the trees and to anywhere he would want to go. At last he was free. At last he could fly. It was the young boy’s words that really summed up all his feelings that day.

“It is because we love you so much that we set you free. Be the best that you can be,” the boy said as he opened the cage.

Reluctantly, Pippa walked out of the cage, bobbed his head, looked at the family who loved him for more than two years, and flew towards the nearest branch of a tree to the west side of the park. And the rest of the day, he had spent hopping from branch to branch of the trees in the park. It was the loneliest and saddest day of his life. The irony of it all is being free outside, yet your heart inside was held captive by a love that could never be.

9

PRESENT DAY Pippa had learned to live a life totally different from where he had been. No more cage, but neither was there food all the time. He had to search for his food now. He had already forged friendship with other animals in the park, like the birds who at first looked at him with disdain because he was different, but then later accepted him as part of the flock.

But things started to get exciting, when one day three more parrots arrived in the park and asked if they could stay around. Pippa said yes, only because one of them was beautiful. She was a few months younger than he was, but boy oh boy, was she beautiful.

Her name was Carla. She had a strong curved beak, strong and straight legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. The set of feathers on the top of her head was so endearing, but the most attractive part of Carla was her intelligence.

One afternoon, as Pippa and Carla were flying around the park, they heard music at the east side of the park and they decided to check it out.

A group of teenagers were dancing like there’s no tomorrow. Wearing shorts, that were really short it barely covered the essentials, the girls attracted the attention of boys (of all ages) in the park. But their choreography was so good even the women (of all ages, too), stopped and joined the fun. The music was blaring all over the place.

I luh ya papi, I luh ya papi I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi I luh ya papi “Wah kayd oh song is dat?” one of the Asians asked, seriously confused and way out of sync. His friends were resting on the bench after having finished their taeboo-thing, which they always do this time of day.

I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi I luh ya papi Kids were singing along with the teenagers. Even the dogs seem to have synched their steps with the tempo of the music, with their tails waggling to the catchy tune. The praying mantises were enjoying every beat of it, bobbing their heads, raising both front legs, almost saying like, “to the left” 2-3-4 “to the right” 2-3-4, “left 2-3 4, right 2-3-4….”

I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi Yeah that my papi I luh ya luh ya luh ya papi

13

Except for the crickets who were surprisingly quiet, all the animals in the park were obviously caught up with the music and were moving either their heads or their feet to the beat, including the newest addition to the park, a parrot called Pippa.

I luh ya, luh ya, luh ya Pippa Those words brought back his memories to a place where he felt love, experienced that strange feeling, and cherished it forever in his heart (if he had one). If they only knew that he was not parroting when he said “I luh yah.”

He bobbed his head, while his thoughts were brought back to the past, a not very distant past. He remembered the young girl singing this song and he felt that feeling of desolation, but also triggered emotions which he thought he had forgotten already.

He looked at Carla and said, “Do you know what that song means?”

“Of course. It’s about love,” Carla answered, puzzled by the question.

“No, it’s about me. That’s about me. Luh ya, Pippa,” Pippa said. “My name is Pepper, but they all call me Pippa. And I want you to sing it for me, please.”

Carla nudged him and said “Hahahaaha. That’s the lamest one-liner I’ve ever heard. Are you asking me if I love you? We have been going out for almost 3 weeks now and you still couldn’t tell? You kidding me?”

And that was the end of the beginning. A new chapter of Pippa’s life had begun.

He started bobbing his head, singing “left 2-3-4 right 2-3-4, I luh ya luh yah Pippa.”

Carla was belting out too, “I luh ya Pappa, I luh ya luh ya Pappa.”

“What?” Pippa looked at Carla with puzzled eyes.

“Yes, Pippa, you are going to be a Pappa. And in no time little ones will be singing ‘I luh ya luh ya Pappa.’”

15

God created the trees for the birds to build their nests.

But he created the skies for them to conquer.

Danny Ninal from “The Ramblings of the Mind�

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All Rights Reserved 2014 Danny NInal