by Terrie Todd
Brent Beaulieu scraped a stick along the inside of his storm gutters until they were clear, and then he climbed down the ladder. His wife, Anita, had been after him about the gutters for weeks, and he wanted to make sure the job was done before she returned home from her weekend women’s retreat.
“And those sparrows moved on weeks ago,” she said. “Please clean that nest out of our eaves so they don’t come back to use it again next year. They’re cute little birds and all, but our patio isn’t a poop deck.”
Brent smiled, remembering her joke. He looked forward to her return and to how pleased she would be to see the work done. He raked up the gutter debris and added it to the grass clippings in his wheelbarrow, then he wheeled it over to the compost bin and dumped it in. Once he’d located the abandoned sparrows’ nest under the overhang of their house, he moved his ladder to the right spot. As he climbed up, he wondered whether the nest would be worth salvaging as a science exhibit in his grade five classroom. But when he pulled it free from its space, one chunk stayed behind, leaving him holding a doughnut-shaped bird’s nest. With his free hand, he cleared the remaining bits from the eaves.
He climbed back down the ladder, then studied the nest more carefully. Birds will use the oddest things, he thought as he examined it closely. Woven in with the crisscrossed twigs was an almost intact chocolate bar wrapper. The fine print was faded beyond recognition, but Brent could easily make out the words Jersey Milk. The most curious thing was the old-fashioned style of printing. It reminded him of the fonts used in the newspapers from World War II, now on display in his school’s library.
I wonder how old that Jersey Milk wrapper is? He tossed the nest—chocolate wrapper and all—into the garbage can and brushed off his gloves. As he closed the can’s lid, the shiny foil lettering on the candy wrapper glinted in the sun’s rays and Brent had a second thought.
One of his students, little Katie-Lynn Watson, loved birds. She had just completed a report on sparrows, and he thought she would probably like to see this little nest up close, broken though it was. Brent reached back into the garbage can and retrieved both the nest and a clean piece of newspaper in which to wrap it. Then he laid it on the front passenger seat of his car so he would remember to give it to Katie-Lynn on Monday.
He could already imagine the smile that would brighten her face.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It takes an army to publish a book. I’d like to offer my utmost thanks to my friend Julianne Dick, to whom God gave the picture of me seated atop a silver suitcase stuffed full of papers trying to get out. Thanks for your prayers, Jules! To Kimberley Peterson, my mentor at the Christian Writers Guild, for encouraging and teaching me. To my husband and first reader, Jon. When you cried real tears through that first clumsy draft, I knew we had a story. To our children, Nate and Dara, Mindy and Kevin, and Reuben and Jill, for their support and encouragement. To my wonderful agent, Jessica Kirkland, of the Blythe Daniel Agency, for not giving up. To everyone at Waterfall Press, especially my amazing editor, Shari MacDonald Strong. I know God hand-picked you for me. To my fellow Thesaurus Wrecks, for sharing this crazy journey: Michael Ehret, Kimberley Gardner Graham, Jim Hamlett, Clarice James, and Peter Leavell. I love you guys beyond words! To Mom, for sharing her one-room-school teaching stories. To my cheerleader, Dr. Lisa Graham, for raising the value of my autograph by a million percent. To every friend and family member who read earlier drafts, supported me, and kept me going. To everyone who has prayed for my health. Most of all, my thanks are due to my redeemer, Jesus Christ, master storyteller and main character in the greatest story ever told.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2015 G. Loewen Photos
Terrie Todd is an award-winning author who has published eight stories with the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, created two full-length plays with Eldridge Plays and Musicals, and writes a weekly faith and humor column for the Central Plains Herald-Leader. Her debut novel, The Silver Suitcase, was a finalist in the 2011 and 2012 Christian Writers Guild’s Operation First Novel contest. In 2010, she served on the editorial advisory board for the anthology Chicken Soup for the Soul: O Canada. She lives with her husband, Jon, on the Canadian prairies, where they raised their three children. By day, Terrie is an administrative assistant at city hall. She enjoys acting and directing with her local community theater group, the Prairie Players, and being grandma to four little boys.
