The Bird

This happened when I was just a child, but I remember it ever so clearly. As a child, I owned a dog called Gelert, but at this moment in time, he was still a puppy. I was out in the garden with the rest of my family when our dog jumped up and ran over to attack a chick. It had obviously attempted to fly and had managed a few metres before giving up, though it was still alive. Gelert started attacking it, but the chick hid under the outdoor sofa, which was too narrow for the dog to get under. In the end, we picked the chick up and carried it over to below its nest where we could hear its mother calling out to it, but afraid to take it from humans. Like all birds, however, its mother did not recognise it after humans had handled it and it continued to call out, convinced that this was not her chick. We put our dog inside and went in with it, locking the doors to prevent it from reaching the chick. A while later I went back out. The bird wasn't moving, but it had its eyes open and was still breathing. It was obviously suffering from a traumatic shock and was going to die, so we let our dog out to put an end to its misery. The dog instantly ran to where it had seen the chick last, but of course, it was no longer there. As he ran past the chick, however, it fainted at the very sight of him but was still breathing. I went and stood where we had left it and even called the dog. I looked away to call him and he came, but when I turned back, the chick had vanished. I only turned around for about 5 seconds, and its mother hadn't gone anywhere near. The bird could not have flown away, and I only ever looked away for a few seconds. It had truly vanished.