The Noisy Parrot

Mrs. Garcia had lived in the same Brooklyn apartment building for thirty years, and for twenty of them she had shared her home with Paco, a green parrot with an excellent memory. Paco knew about two hundred words in English and Spanish, and he could copy the doorbell, the microwave and Mrs. Garcia's laugh perfectly. The problem was that he repeated everything he heard, usually at the worst possible moment.

In summer, Mrs. Garcia kept the window open, and Paco's cage stood right next to it. One hot afternoon, she was talking on the phone with her sister in Puerto Rico. "The man upstairs plays his drums every night," she complained. "It sounds like a truck falling down the stairs. And Mrs. Klein next door never stops talking about her cat. I think even the cat is bored." Paco listened with great interest.

The next morning, Mr. Novak from upstairs knocked on her door. He looked hurt. "Your parrot told me that I played the drums every night," he said. "He also said it sounded like a truck falling down the stairs." Mrs. Garcia went red. She had said exactly that, but she had never expected anyone to hear it. She told him that Paco often said silly things, and she promised to keep the window closed.

But it was too late. Two days later, Mrs. Klein stopped her in the hallway. "Your bird said that I never stopped talking about my cat," she said coldly. "And he asked me whether the cat was bored." Then the building manager mentioned that Paco had called him lazy, and a young couple on the second floor said the parrot had asked them why they argued so much. By the end of the week, half the building wasn't speaking to Mrs. Garcia.

She felt terrible. That evening, she sat down in front of the cage. "Paco," she said, "we have a problem." Paco looked at her and said, "Problem! Problem!" Mrs. Garcia sighed. Then she had an idea. If Paco repeated everything she said, she just needed to say nicer things.

For the next two weeks, she spent an hour every day saying kind things next to the open window. "Mr. Novak is a talented musician. Mrs. Klein has the most beautiful cat in Brooklyn. The manager works very hard." She also baked a big chocolate cake and invited all her neighbors to a party in the building's small garden.

At the party, Mr. Novak told her that Paco had called him a talented musician that morning. Mrs. Klein said the parrot had told her that her cat was the most beautiful in Brooklyn, which, of course, was true. Everyone was laughing and eating cake when Paco suddenly shouted, in Mrs. Garcia's exact voice, "I hope they don't eat all the cake!" Everyone turned to look at her. Mrs. Garcia smiled and cut another slice. "Well," she said, "he's right. Save some for me."