Chapter 1 'The Visit'

I know I'm supposed to be working on Reborn, Two Blues, and Generic Rio Story, but I decided to screw with my writing schedule even further!

Today I just got the idea for this story while writing chapter 5 for Two Blues. I don't think anyone has done this before. What if Blu was severely disfigured from Psittacine Beak and Feather disease? This story will probably be more emotional than the others, but will still have comedy.

Anyways, lets get on with it! Enjoy or suffer.

It was a nice, cold morning in the small town of Moose Lake, Minnesota. It had snowed last night, and people generally stayed indoors due to the cold. But in that town, there was a bookstore, ran by a certain Linda Gunderson. She had red hair and wore glasses. She had a pet bird too, and a special one at that…

Linda was asleep, and she was awoken by her alarm clock. She tried turning it off, but it didn't turn off, so she unplugged it. It was still beeping, she looked up and saw her pet bird, Blu, making a sound that was like a car alarm. He also had her glasses. She took them off him, and he made a clicking sound, like a car alarm being turned off.

''Morning Blu…'', she said sleepily, as she yawned. The two went over to brush their teeth, well at least Linda did, as Blu was a bird, he simply brushed his beak, or at least what's left of it…

You see, when Blu was 5 years old, or 10 years ago, he was a normal, somewhat handsome looking bird. Until his feathers wore, and fell out. He was taken to the vet, and diagnosed with Psittacine Beak and Feather disease. He was given a low chance of survival, and both Blu and Linda thought his life was over. It was like being diagnosed with Cancer, Aids, Alzheimer's, or some other terminal, regressive illness.

But they persevered, and Blu's condition deteriorated, but they kept on going…Blu would survive it, but it left its mark, with scars…Scars that would never heal, and would ruin all of Blu's self-esteem, and any possibility of finding friendship, or a mate. He was once a good looking, kind of charming, confident bird...But after, and now, he was a pale shadow of his former self. He was an easily frightened, depressed, emotional, and quiet bird. Blu would never be the same. His feathers recovered, but were still roughed up, and looked unkept. But his face…His face was destroyed. He lost a good portion of his beak, and his remaining bit was scratched up. It was wrinkly and scarred in the same way a burn victim is. His tongue would stick out, and it would dry out.

Luckily, he would be given a ceramic fake beak, that he would wear all the time. Its like a glass eye, or those facial prosthetics that some horribly disfigured World War one survivors would wear, so they could look somewhat normal. While they did fall into the uncanny valley, it was certainly better looking than the horrific disfigurement that it concealed. Many of them lost a chunk of their face, so it was a nice solution.

After he brushed his beak, he had Linda put on his prosthetic beak.

''Want me to make you a hot chocolate?'', she asked. Blu let out a happy squawk and nodded.

''Okay.'', she said with a chuckle. Blu made his way over to the counter by the window, and read a book. Soon, Blu's hot chocolate was ready, and was placed beside him. He loved his hot chocolate, and he drank it up. However, a snowball hit the window. It was Alice and Chloe.

''Well if its not our favourite nerd bird, Mr. Half Beak!'', they mocked him. Blu was used to it, and payed no attention to those idiots, they weren't even worth paying attention to. Blu continued to read, as they threw snowballs and mocked him.

But they were disturbed by someone slipping along the sidewalk, and Blu was startled by a slam against the door. Luckily, he didn't spill his drink. Linda went up to the door, and let him in.

''Hey, are you okay?'', she asked him.

''Yeah, I'm just not built for this weather.'', he answered, shivering. The man had tan skin, and was rather tall, wore glasses, and had a subtle accent. He clearly wasn't from here, and instead was from some place warmer.

''Oh, are you here for books?'', Linda asked him.

''Oh no, I came 6,000 miles looking for him.'', he said pointing at Blu, and gave Linda his business card.

''Doctor of Ornithology…Look Dr. Monteri…Blu's not for sale!'', Linda said, and tried to pronounce his surname.

''Look, you don't have to say my full name, just call me Tulio. You know your macaw is a very special bird.'', Tulio said to her.

''Really?'', she asked.

''Yes, in fact, he may be the last male of his kind. He is a Spix's Macaw.'', he told her. He walked up to Blu and looked at him,

''Wow, he's beautiful.'', Tulio commented. If only he knew…, Blu sadly thought. Tulio noticed something off about his beak,

''What's wrong with his beak? It looks…off.'', Tulio commented. Blu grew anxious, and Linda walked up to him, and comforted him. She took off his prosthetic beak, and Tulio gasped at his severely disfigured beak.

''Oh my god…What happened to him? Poor thing…'', Tulio said sympathetically. Linda put his fake beak back on,

''10 years ago he got Beak and Feather disease…'', Linda said sadly.

''Oh no, that's horrible…Psittacine Beak and Feather disease is an awful disease that has killed so many birds…Blu is lucky to be alive.'', Tulio said sadly.

''Okay, so we have a female macaw for him.'', Tulio told Linda. Blu grew anxious, and felt really sad.

''Oh, so when is she coming over?'', Linda asked.

''Oh no, she's in Brazil. Blu must come to Rio de Janeiro!'', Tulio announced enthusiastically. Blu grew even more anxious.

''Rio? But, that's so far away…'', Linda said unsurely.

''Yeah, but we have to do this, otherwise his whole species will be gone, forever! There will never be any beautiful blue bird like him. Linda please, this is our last hope!'', Tulio begged her. Linda paused for a bit,

''I'll think about it…'', she said. Tulio handed her his business card,

''When you decide, call me…'', he said to her, and left.

Blu wasn't too happy, and signed for pen and paper, which he received.

'Linda, can I have some alone time, away from everyone?', it read.

''Sure.'', Linda said. He hopped onto her shoulders and she took him to his room. This is where Blu would hang out, especially when he was sad. He liked it there because he could hide away from everyone.

He was placed down, and Linda walked away. He sadly walked to his bed, and sat down, and left himself to his thoughts.

''That poor female macaw…She has to be stuck with me…With this…thing! How could anyone love me? I bet she would be beautiful, and she's going to be forced to be with some freak!'', he sadly said to himself, and broke down crying.

He had no self-esteem, and he would be incredibly nervous even if he was good looking…But, he was so disfigured that the idea that he could ever win a girl over was comically ridiculous. Blu was pretty drab for the rest of the day, and when he found out they were definitely going, he grew even more anxious.

The next day, Linda packed her bags, and they headed to the airport, where they met Tulio and began their journey to Rio…

That wraps up this short chapter, I hope you liked it. I am aware that the extent of Blu's disfigurement is not realistic, but just pretend it is.

The cover for this is from 'The Elephant Man', a David Lynch film based on Joseph Merrick, who had a severely deformed face and body. I edited it in MS Paint.

You can look up 'World War One Prosthetic Faces' on Google…Or don't, you're probably better off if you don't. As the images are quite graphic, disturbing and downright creepy.

Until next time, goodbye.