'My Sister Begs for a Canary She Won’t Even Love' by Debra A Daniel

She wants two canaries so they can have a bird wedding and babies.

“Pet store. Pet store.” She chants over and over. My mother ignores her. At first.

*

“She talks you into anything she wants,” I say on our way to the store. Even though it’s not allowed, my sister sits in the front seat.

“There are worse things that canaries,” my mother says, driving with one hand. The other hand fluffs her hair. She stares at herself in the rearview mirror. “I look like a scraggly old bird myself,” she says.

“If my lady canary looks like you, it’ll be beautiful,” my sister says. My mother pats her on the head.

*

My sister squeals and hop-steps, panicking all the birds.

She chooses a cage, food, and two sunshiny yellow canaries. My mother picks out a mirror so they can see themselves.

*

My sister stops feeding the birds and cleaning their cage. 

“You’ll have to take care of them,” my mother says.

“I hate bird poop.”

“If you don’t take care of them, they’ll die.” Guilting is her superpower.

*

The lady canary lays eggs. The chicks hatch, bald and demanding.

When they get a little older we see that one has a crooked leg. 

“It won’t live,” my mother says like it’s not a big deal. Still I bind its leg with a toothpick and some thread.

The other canaries gang up and kill it.

“That’s what animals do sometimes,” my mother says.

“They were family,” I say. “Didn’t they love each other?”

The canaries flit around all yellow and carefree like nothing happened.

Even though she abandoned those canaries, my sister is sobbing. “I’ll never peck you to death,” I tell her and pat her head. Together the two of us bury the little bird in the backyard. 

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Debra A Daniel is the author of three novellas-in-flash, two poetry chapbooks, and one novel. She has been longlisted and shortlisted in many competitions and has been nominated for Best Short Fiction and Pushcart prizes. Her work has been published internationally in print journals and online.