Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Kidnapping

~ John W. Howell

Today, I opened the book The Last Stop to a random page (219) and pointed to the page with my eyes closed. The word closest to my finger is the word “kidnapping.”

Kidnapping by John W. Howell © 2024

“I have heard everything now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t believe you would tell a story like that.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“It is so hard to believe I must call foul.”

“My kidnapping is the truth.”

“Oh, please. Your parents are wonderful folks.”

“Yeah, they are, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that they kidnapped me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“All you have to do is look at them and then look at me.”

“So what’s your point.”

“Are you kidding me? My point is I don’t look anything like them.”

“I never noticed. Okay, but that still doesn’t mean you were kidnapped.”

“I don’t talk like them either.”

“Oh, come on. Yes, your voice is a little deeper, but still.”

“I’m telling you they stole me from my natural parents.”

“Hold on. I think I read about something like this.”

“You did?”

“Yes. National Geographic Magazine had an article about brown-headed cowbirds.”

“What does that have to do with anything.”

“You have a brown head.”

“Yes.”

“And your mom and dad are bluebirds.”

“Yes, of course.”

“That’s it then.”

“What’s it?”

“Brown-headed cowbird moms lay their eggs in other bird’s nests, and then the other birds raise their young.”

“You mean I’m a Brown-headed cowbird?”

“Looks like it.”

“Abandoned by its mother.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Get off the half-empty kick. You have wonderful and loving bluebird parents.”

“I guess it could be worse. I could have been raised by wolves.”

“There you go. Although wolves don’t build nests or lay eggs.”

“Hey, it’s my coping mechanism. Don’t throw shade on my parade.”

“Fine. Anything to get you thinking positively.”

“I think I’ll start thinking like the bluebird of happiness.”

“Swell. Let’s go flying.”

“We can sing songs.”

“Yeah, Maybe you should let me handle that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind. Take to wing bluebird of happiness.”

54 thoughts on “Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Kidnapping”

    1. I’m sure we all have. In grade school mu sister was older so she had the teachers before me. During a parent teacher conference one remarked,”John is certainly different than his sister.”

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  7. What a great take on kidnapped! Both my kids are adopted – I wonder if they ever thought they’d been kidnapped. We told my daughter she was a blue light special at KMart.

    I knew that about cowbirds – and they don’t sound anything like bluebirds – very raucous!

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  11. Nicely done, John. I thought at first that you were referring to a dog, who certainly doesn’t look anything like the humans who adopted it. Looking on the positive side is always a good thing!

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  14. I have read about brown-headed cowbirds and this unusual habit. I remember they often kick one of the other bird’s eggs out of the nest and replace it with one of their own. Talk about taking the easy way out.

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  15. It was a fun story. I started thinking about a friend of mine. She was born in Brazil and she was adopted by Swedish parents. She kept saying to her parents that they were white thieves who stole her. But she eventually got over that.

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