Author: Edward Guenther
Written: 10/26/2013

Sheared off!  It was completely sheared off … well, not completely; it was still attached by a sinew, but nothing more.  Crystal’s pet pigeon’s leg had been severed as younger sister, Rachel, slammed the door while the bird tried to fly in.  The usual accusations were flung about, but Rachel struck to her guns: “I’m not responsible for any old bird trying to get into the house!” End of argument.

Crystal was in a dither and the bird wasn’t too happy either.   Her dad would go to great extremes to smooth things over.  He declared that they would have a surgery and put the leg back on.  Which they did, Crystal and her dad, splints and all!  Dad doused the leg with antibiotic, broke up tooth picks to make the splints and wrapped it up in a bandage.

As the days passed everyone watched as the bird hopped around with its bandaged leg sticking out to the side.  It even slept with its leg propped up.  To everyone’s utter amazement the leg took.  At first a limp, in time the leg started moving and then the claws.  And once again the dumb bird would try to fly in the door as someone was trying to quickly close the door on it. Crystal said it wasn’t the bird’s fault as it had a brain the size of a BB!

You can still see the scar tissue on ol’ Pij’s leg to this day.  Her dad claimed he could paste back on any sheered leg thereafter.  You could go to Crystal’s to see it for yourself, but she gave the old bird to her dad when she got married and he still has it. Her dad tried to give it to Crystal’s husband, Andrew, but he wouldn’t take it. He even took the bird away and let it go, but being a homing bird, it came back.

The bird used to fly free in the yard but he wouldn’t stay out of Great Granma’s white hair. It is confined to its room where he is living out his life, a very long life.