A New Precious

Chapter 18

In the morning, I was the first to awake. I showered, brushed my teeth, and changed into a green onesie with a very long, adjustable, springy tail. I made my way down to the living room to check on our sweet little bird friend. She immediately came to the front of her cage to greet me.

"Hi," I said in a joyful baby voice as I opened the cage door. "Hi, Sweetheart. Did you sleep well?"

She chirped "yes."

"Good. Sméagol so happy to hears that." As I reached out to her, she jumped onto my arm, and ran up to my shoulder. I giggled. "That tickles."

She laughed, too.

"Come, why don't we goes outside to sit in the beautiful morning sun?"

She chirped happily as I made my way outside, carrying the sweet little angel bird on my shoulder, and giggling as my tail bounced up and down behind me. I sat on the porch swing, and she climbed down to the top of my zipper again. I stroked her gently as she nuzzled up against me. "Awww, you're a sweet little baby birdy, aren't you?"

She cooed softly.

I continued stroking her as I suddenly began to feel very sad once again. I remembered the conversation I had with Máiréad last night, and what it made me realize about Gollum. I didn't knows what to think, or how to even explains what I was feeling.

After a few moments of deep thought, I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up to see Aaliyah tiptoeing towards me, carrying a plastic bag. She sat next to me on the swing. "Hey, Sméagol," she greeted, sifting through her bag, and taking out some yarn and needles.

"Hello," I said somberly. "What's it doing?"

"I'm crocheting a blanket."

"Oh, like Máiréad's sweater blanketses?"

Aaliyah grinned. "Yep. I'm making her another one, because she loves them so much."

"Awwww, so sweet you are. Sméagol wish he could makes blanketses."

"Well, I can teach you if you want."

"Oh, yes, please do."

"Okay, so here's what you do." And, she showed me how to crochet.

I watched as she made the blanket, and listened as she gave step-by-step instructionses. Then, she hurried back inside to fetch some yarn and crocheting tollses for me. She repeated her instructions to me as I slowly began, and once again, I picked up on it very quickly.

"Wow, you're doing great, Sméagol."

I smiled graciously. "Thank you, Aaliyah."

Our little bird friend perched on top of my zipper, watching us make our blankets. She chirped happily.

I giggled. "You likes it, Precious?"

She chirped "yes."

"You want Sméagol to makes you a warm, fuzzy sweater blanket?"

She chirped "yes" very excitedly.

I giggled. "Awww, okay. Well, this won't take much longer, Sweetie."

Aaliyah looked over at me, and she noticed the sadness in my eyes. "Sméagol, are you okay?"

"I am, yes."

"Because, you seem kinda down about something."

"Well..." I sighed as I tried to find the words to explain what was bothering me so much. "I don't knows how to explains it, but... talking to Máiréad last night... I realized something I never knew... about Gollum."