Little Red Bird

I left the door slightly ajar on our screen porch yesterday and a cardinal, as red as a fresh wound somehow flew through it.

Ordinarily, that's not an issue because we find birds on our porch all the time.
We go out there several times and day and when we discover a trapped bird, we simply open the door and shoo them off.

But yesterday, I had left the ceiling fan on and the cardinal, while trying to escape, apparently flew into one of the spinning blades.

The sad thing is that it did not die instantly. The fan apparently broke its neck and I found it on the floor dazed, confused, and unable to move. 

It broke my heart to see it lying there. I did my best to make it comfortable, but it died a short time later.

I guess the humane thing would have been to put the creature out of its misery, but I simply could not bring myself to do it. Call me a wimp, but I could not.

So I brought it a shallow dish of water and sat apologizing for a long while. I had to feed the chickens and our other critters, and when I returned, he had died.

I buried him in a place of honor in our pet cemetery. 

I made a promise to all the creatures in earshot that I would never leave the ceiling fan on when we are not out there. 

I know it doesn't help this bird, but it should reduce the chances of a repeat.

Note: the picture above was borrowed from the Internet.