It was a special family outing.
Mum, Dad and daughter all left home early to make sure they would get in. The new bird sanctuary and reserve had only been open a week and was proving to be very popular. Naturally, it was the children who were particularly excited to see all kinds of birds they had never seen before; to see them up so close was a real treat. The reserve had only been open a few minutes when they parked, but a huge crowd was sifting through the front turnstile as they approached. The grounds were extensive, with many large enclosures and even more small cages for the smaller varieties. The family worked its way around following the paths and signposts. They stopped occasionally to read the plaques mounted on the cage fronts.
The girl was especially fond of owls and spent a long time peering through the netting, chatting amiably with them as they sat perched on dead branches, occasionally swooping down to ground level. She wasn’t at all happy with them being caged, but it did mean she could take a closer look at them. One owl came so close to the fence that she found she could pass her tiny hands through two of the openings, hold her disposable camera phone inside the compound, and get a really good close picture.
She was doing this when a visitor bumped her and she dropped the camera. At this point, the owl seemed to take an interest in what had arrived; it started to frantically peck at it. At this point she let out a howl and her father made his way through the crowd to investigate. Most people took a great deal of interest in what had happened and he had to push his way through.
Seeing the problem, they all went looking for a zoo official, while the mother voiced her opinion yet again that her daughter was simply too young to be given a camera. The father agreed that when they got it back he would take charge of it until they got home and he could assess the damage. The keeper was very understanding about it and it was retrieved. The disappointed daughter would have to wait to see whether any of her snaps had come out. Fortunately, the long drive home meant that the sleepy girl went straight to bed.
Later that evening, the father wiped the camera clean of dirt and straw and went in to see what he could find. His young daughter would be delighted that all her pictures were intact, but he felt he should delete the message scratched out on the back. The mother agreed.
It read: Please set me free!
