How Yellow Shoes Almost Cost Me My Life

It was just like any other Saturday in Danville, Kentucky. Still being the only child, I often had a very exciting weekend planned, as a three year old. My parents decided that they were going to take their favorite only child out on the town to the local home and garden center to find new flowers to plant around our mailbox. Little did I know that, 15 years later, that day would still haunt me.

Sitting in the front seat of the shopping cart, I was looking oh so cute from head to toe in my matching Baby Gap hat, sundress, and yellow tennis shoes enjoying a small bag of my favorite colored marshmallows. What I didn't know was that these yellow shoes could have almost cost me my life.

After making a few rounds around the store, my parents let me get out of the shopping cart to stretch my legs as long as I stayed close. I wandered around the small store looking at all of the pretty plants and decorations. As I was taking it all in I eventually found my way towards the counter where parched a large green parrot. The man at the desk smiled and said hello and commented on my stylish attire.

“Do you want to pet him?” he asked. I shyly shook my head and backed up clutching my bag of marshmallows.

He shrugged, “Okay, His name is Sisco. He's very friendly if you change your mind.” He fed Sisco a cracker and went back into his office.

I turned to look for my parents, but I couldn't see them anymore. I looked up at the bird and slowly gathered up enough courage to try to make myself a new animal friend like one of my favorite princesses, Cinderella. A girl can dream right? As I slowly inched my way towards the big green parrot, I decided to share my special marshmallows with this giant bird that could probably swallow me whole if he wanted. Out of the goodness of my heart I grabbed a green marshmallow out of the bag and inched my chubby little hand towards his beak, Sisco moved his face towards my hand and looked at the little marshmallow in front of him. In a split second he lunged for me and chased me around the store flapping his giant wings trying to eat my shoes! Screaming I dropped my precious bag of marshmallows and ran for my life as fast as my chubby toddler legs could carry me to escape the terrifying beast that was about to kill me. The owner of the store ran after us to try to catch the demon bird. “Mommy! Daddy!” I screamed frantically looking over my shoulder all I could see was Sisco getting closer, his high pitched squawking ringing in my ear. He snapped at my bright yellow tennis shoes over and over again. Finally, he grabbed one of my shoelaces and I tripped fell into a pot of daisies. I desperately tried to get away and ugly cried as Sisco started pecking at my feet and lunged at my face, his beak was centimeters from my nose when the man grabbed him by his feathers and shoved him back into his cage.

I cried for hours and that night I had nightmares about the giant demon parrot pecking at my head and eating the yellow shoes off my feet one by one before he swallowed me whole and burped up my shoes and wore them himself. To this day I still have some trust issues with exotic birds because of this traumatic event in my life.