Drowning in Animals

Taking Flight

      It was only about a month with Patton in his home and all of Thomas's friends loved playing and hanging out with the dog, while Thomas was just enjoying his new life with a new family member. His friends had noticed that he was so much happier with his life after getting Patton and they were so proud of him for going out of the way to get the happy dog and improve his life.

      One morning, Thomas took Patton out on a walk in the early hours of the morning. The light blue leash that matched Patton's collar was held in Thomas's hand as he called for the puppy.

      "Let's go, Patton! Time for your walk!"

      Patton quickly, but carefully, ran downstairs and the leash was attached to the dog, connecting animal and human. The sun had just started to show itself when they walked out the door.

      They were walking for a little bit when they heard a sound that caused them to stop. To the pair, it sounded like an animal in pain. Patton looked up at Thomas in confusion and Thomas did the same. The two of them walked off the path and went towards the area where they had heard the noise. Thomas paused for a moment before the noise sounded again and he and Patton ran over to a nearby tree.

      When they reached the tree, Thomas bent down and started looking around for what could have made the sound. He seen a little patch of bright blue underneath a few leaves and quickly moved them out of the way to see if the blue was what made the noise. Sure enough when the leaves were moved, Thomas came upon a blue jay sitting on the ground with it's left wing hanging lower than the other wing in an uncomfortable looking position. The bird seemed to be older than a chick, so it couldn't have gotten hurt from flying for the first time.

      Patton bent down next to Thomas so that he could get a better look at the bird and let out a whine when he saw the wing that was clearly broken.

      "Hi there," Patton said to the bird.

      The bird looked back up at the big yellow dog before responding with a pain filled "Salutations."

      "I'm Patton. What's your name?"

      "My name is Logan."

      "My human and I heard your cries and we came to help, will you let us take you home to get you better?" the worried dog asked.

      The bird took a second to think, clearly worried about the thought of being taken away from his home, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that going with the human would be the best way to heal him. "I will."

      "Great!"

      Patton looked up at Thomas and gave him a small nod, which surprised Thomas but he slowly and carefully picked up the bird in his hands before walking back towards his house with Patton, who had grabbed his leash in his mouth, following right behind them.

      When they had finally got home, Thomas carefully put the bird down on the ground, before pulling out his phone and looking up "how to help a bird with a broken wing". He clicked on one of the first articles that popped up and began reading. As he was reading he would occasionally look at Logan to make sure that his wing matched the description and/or wasn't bleeding like the website told him to look for. Eventually, Thomas realized that he would have to run to the store to grab some vet tape to wrap around the bird.

      "Patton." Thomas started. The dog looked up at him from where he was in front of Logan. "Keep an eye on the bird while I'm gone. I need to grab some things so that that wing will heal properly." Patton looked up at him with a look that told Thomas all he needed to know. "Thank you."