The dodo bird

Chapter 1

Mira Mitchell never wanted to leave home, but he was forced to. She sat on her bed, glumly. The room was a browny beige colour that smells smelly. It used to be where Mrs Sperling’s son used to sleep. Sadly, due to the war, he had died, so Mrs Sperling ripped the wallpaper and all down and now it was like the tip. Mira didn’t really mind though, she was used to living in a small, cramped house, this was just messy, but it was a rather large room. Whenever Mira mentioned the war, if she even asked how her mother was, she would burst into tears and it would take hours for Mira to make her feel better. Mira had learnt not to talk about it after a few days.

Her first day at school was a bit different to how he was expecting it to be. She would have at least thought the first day at school would be fun, however, Mira thought wrong. The teacher was really nice, but the lessons were boring, her teacher was called Mr Taylor. He had discovered what Mira found hard and soon after many weeks, Mira had learnt how to read. She sat at the back, a desk to herself, sulking, missing her mum and wishing the war would soon be over. 

The weeks came and went, she had created a routine and everyday was the same old. She spent most of her days scratching her nails on the table. The garden was covered in junk and Mira spent her free time clearing it all up. 

Before night, Mira would do all the evening jobs, while Mrs Sperling would be cleaning the dishes. She would watch Mrs Sperling go out for a jog late at night. After her jog, she would go somewhere. What was she doing? Why did she leave her every night for hours on end?

Mira started to get really annoyed, she wanted to know where Mrs Sperling was going every night. One day, in the middle of December, she asked Mira to go with her. 

The lights from houses gave them paths of light, she stared up into the sky that looked as if a giant had chucked a blanket over the village. She had clearly stopped, she glanced around for Mrs Sperling and there she was, far away, what felt like miles. 

She stopped by the forest. Mira ran on, peering through the bushes of leaves and the piles of berries hurdled together. Then, a pair of eyes appeared out of nowhere! A beak gently wobbled its way out from the millions of leaves pushed against a tall tree. Mira’s mouth steadily opened. Her mouth wide open. “Meet Chip!” Mrs Sperling smiled as Mira gave the dodo bird a little stroke. “I’ve seen her lots, she’s my little pet, I found her when she was a little baby bird.”