The Legend Of The Old And Wise Blue Tit. Part One. The Bedtime Story.

“They say it happened many years ago, before you were born. Before I was even born, imagine that! Something happening before I was born, you’re always joking about how old I am, I’m only three years old. Anyway, this story involves Hoomin Bee-ins. Well, it may or may not be a story. It’s more of a legend, in which it could have happened.
Anyway, the story goes that many years ago, when the Old And Wise Blue Tit was a chick, he was the runt of his litter. He had so many brothers and so many sisters who hatched at the same time as he did. They were all bigger and stronger than he was. His parents decided that because he was really little, he wouldn’t survive, and they couldn’t be bothered to look after a chick who wouldn’t live very long anyway. They chucked him out of the nest, meaning to just leave his fate to a cat, or something much more cruel. They say his parents kept chucking him out of the nest many times, because a Hoomin Bee-in would wander into the garden and put him back. And then, one day, the Hoomin Bee-in picked him up as usual, but instead of putting him back into the nest, she took off with him, to the bigger nest where she lived. The big nest that Hoomin Bee-ins call a house. To this day, nobody knows what happened to that little blue tit, who was so small and weak his own parents didn’t want to know him. Some birds say the Hoomin Bee-in kept him in her house, looking after him, and he’s still alive now. If he is, he’ll be quite old, for it happened years ago. Before you and even I were born.”
I lay there in bed, listening to my dad tell me this story, getting more fascinated by the minute. A blue tit who was born before my dad was born. I found that hard to believe, my dad was extremely old. And what was even harder to believe was that this legendary blue tit was still alive. If he was born years before my dad, he could be hundreds of years old. That was when I made up my mind. I had to go find this legendary blue tit, to find out for myself if it was true or not. Trouble was, the big nest where the Hoomin Bee-ins lived was at the bottom of the garden. The tree in which I lived with my mum, dad, brothers and sisters was all the way at the top. And the garden was a big place. I wasn’t fully fledged yet, which meant I would have to hop on the ground all the way down to the bottom of the garden. The quest could take days, for I would face many obstacles. A Hoomin Bee-in could find me and put me back in my nest. Or a cat could find me and eat me. The Hoomin Bee-in had a pet dog that liked to play with birds, so I’ll have to do my best to avoid that. I shuddered at the thought. This meant I would need help from my best friend and the garden mice, who we were quite friendly with, and often ventured from the top of the garden to the bottom. I decided to worry about it in the morning. It would have to wait until then, because it was bed-time, and I was tired…