“Happy Halloween!” said his Mom as she uncovered Conner Conure’s cage. “Today is special, Conner. A day set aside to have fun. We will share sweet treats today and make sweet memories.” Hmmmmm”, thought Conner in reply, cocking his head and white rimmed eye at Mom.Conner watched with big eyes as Mom got down his carrier and carried it to the kitchen. He could hear the carrier being cleaned and sprayed in the sink, and he made happy smacky kissy noises at Mom while she cleaned. Mom was singing a catchy song and Conner started bobbing his head and body along with the tune.
Conner wondered what was going on and he yelled to his Mom in the kitchen, “Whatcha doin?” She replied, “Just a minute.” Conner made some delicious birdy soup by dipping some scrambled egg and pellets in his water bowl. He ate a hearty breakfast and sipped his soup. Hurry up, Mom, thought Conner. Conner then took a quick splash bath in his water bowl and came out faintly sweet, smelling like the pellets he had dunked earlier.
Mom came in carrying newspapers. She lined one in his travel carrier and the other in his cage bottom. Conner got right down on the new paper to read the news. He began with the movies playing section. There was a movie starring Aldo the Great, his buddy! He saw that JosieMay was still performing the Dance of the Seven Pompoms at the music hall. Under classifieds he found an anonymous advertisement offering to trade a CAG named Silvio for 300 nutriberries. And there was a beautiful picture of Miss Pip posing with Mr. Pepper and an announcement of their wedding in 2 weeks. Then Conner saw it, the special advertisement for Halloween: “GUIDO’S PUMPKIN PATCH! Come and Look What Fell Off the Truck! Eberything Must Go! The Great Pumpkin Liquidation!” Conner skreeched for joy. He just knew that Mom was taking him to see his friend Guido.
As his Mom placed him in his travel cage his eyes were bright and glistening. He tossed his head and flapped his wings in joy. He watched his feathers glisten in the light. Mom strapped his carrier into the car seat. The car sped away traveling for miles through the countryside.
“Get your punkin’s here!” cried Guido Luvboid. Conner perked up and listened intently to Guido. Conner could see Guido when Mom parked the car up on a flatbed truck with pretty pumpkins all around him. “Hello!” screamed Conner Conure. “It is I, Guido Luvboid,” came the answer. “Hi ya,” Conner said to Guido. “Youse is finally here,” replied Guido. “I’ve been saving the best pumpkin of all for youse. Hey Lucky, Conner’s here!”
Lucky Macaw came around the corner, clomp clomp clomp. His tail was swishing and he was showing a big beaky smile. “Conner, glad to see ya. My goodness youse is such a pretty conure,” flattered Lucky. Conner blushed but it was invisible under his feathers. “Lucky, would you show me da pumpkin youse and Guido saved me?” asked Conner.
“Ober here, ober here,” said Guido pointing to a pumpkin. There sat the most perfect little orange pumpkin that Conner had ever seen. Conner’s eyes got very bright and he clacked his beak in happiness. Mom negotiated with Guido about the price and then gave him a debit for 20 nutriberries. Lucky pulled up a little red wagon and loaded the pumpkin onto it. “Tank youse!” chirped Guido as Lucky pulled the wagon to the car and helped unload it.
After a nice nap in his happy hut, Mom came and said, “Step up!” Away they walked chirping and singing. The pumpkin had been placed on a vinyl cloth on the kitchen table. Conner sat on his perch overlooking the table. The Great Pumpkin Carving would now begin. The seeds were the first to be removed. Mom spread them on a cookie sheet and popped them into the oven to dry out for Conner to eat. Conner said, “Mmmmm good.”
Mom carved a nice face in the pumpkin and put a wedge shaped piece in the nose area that looked like a bird beak. Conner approached cautiously. He slowly reached out his beak and touched the pumpkin. He flicked his little tongue to the pumpkin meat and thought, “Mmmmm.” He then started climbing up the face of the pumpkin. He poked his head into the eye holes. He perched on the beak a few minutes. “Oh Conner, you are my Halloween conure,” said Mom. Conner was completely covered with pumpkin juice from his beak down to his tail. Mom ran a shallow bowl of water for him to bathe. Splash, Splash, Splash!
Content and loved, Conner took a nap in his cage. He could smell popping corn in the kitchen and knew when he awoke he would have some for his snack. He dreamed of all the great fun he’d had on this special day with his Mom. His Halloween Wish was that all conures in the whole world could have a special day too.