chapter eleven

And somehow, all their luck changed. Fortune had brought the little rodent and tiny bird back together again. But- cruelty: there was still a hill to walk between them. Parrot was sometimes no good at walking on his knobby parrot toes, and mouse was just a little too sweet to trek up a hill at night alone. And so the parrot sang all day long, as other beautiful birds, who could easily walk the hill, marched in and out of his cottage. There were magpies, mallards, manakins, martins, meadowlarks, mockingbirds, motmots, and mynahs. And the mouse had her suitors, too: gray, white, brown, and black. Sometimes there were special birds. And sometimes there were special mice, but the days when our heroes saw each other- well, those were the best days.