Buried besides the Bluebelles
Beneath the Cherry Tree
Lies Ariel the Budgie
The best girl that could ever be.

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Ariel's story began with my parents in Maryland, though not truly. During the early days of COVID they were taking a long walk through a park - when this yellow and green young parakeet runs, not flies, up to them. We do not know where she came from, where she was hatched or the circumstances that led to her meeting my parents, but from that point on she had found her forever family. They spent a few days posting online and asking around if anyone had lost a bird but no-one responded, so it was with them she stayed.

A few years later, my folks returned to Seattle from Maryland. They drove several weeks to arrive, and she traveled in a travel carrier the entire trip. She did well, seemed to enjoy it, and was popular with motel employees and people they met. Arriving in Seattle safe and sound.

It was only a few months later that my folks then went on a many months long sailing cruise, and I became Ariel's guardian. She was an angel, viciously biting my fingers though rarely drawing blood, until she learned I was not to be feared. Never reacted to her attacks. I played music for her and kept her fed and watered, and began to train her on the basics of hopping onto my finger and receiving kisses from me.

Nearly every day of her life with me I always made sure to remind her that she was a bird. Silly thing she was, forgetting she was a bird, always needed constant reminders. She was also a criminal (everywhere was the bathroom) and I constantly reminded her of her crimes and bird incarceration. My folks loved this and cracked up every time.

Ariel loved Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, Cher, and Yanni. She twittered and chirped and sang to herself, to the forest birds soundtrack, and especially to her mirror buddy.

As is naturally a problem with anyone and anything near me, she was constantly horny and nearly always laying eggs. This is a problem for birds because calcium and eggs could be dangerous if anything went wrong, though only two or three times did she need a vet for how pregnant she constantly was. We tried using hormones to help her stop laying so many eggs but she just could not, would not, did not stop being an incredibly affectionate featherpeeper. Even talking to her, without touching her at all, became sex.

She was a solo bird and did not like other birds. A neighbor often brought her bird (and other birds) over in their cages when they went on trips, and she did okay when the other birds were nearby, but never too close. She was happiest as the only bird, except for her mirror buddy of course.

I loved Ariel and was glad to give her the best life that I could. She had many toys, a lot of food that she loved, and received a lot of attention as a parakeet budgie deserves.

She rests now, buried in the back yard, alongside Rett the rabbit, Dustbunny the bunny, Maestro the springer spaniel, and Mistique (miss-tee-kee) the cat.