Theme: Judgment

Rushed judgment

	Marcelo was returning from his friend's house. He had been playing all afternoon. He was happy, walking along the sidewalk of his street. When he got close to the tree that he had in front of his house, he lifted his head, looking to see the bird in the nest that were
there.

A few days ago, a little bird was born, and Marcelo liked to watch the mother taking care of her baby. Sometimes she was in the nest with him and other times the bird was alone, waiting for the mother to return with food. Marcelo liked to see how the little bird did when he saw his mother, shaking itself and opening his beak wide to ask for food.

Marcelo already had plans to be friends with that little bird. He wanted to give him seeds in his hand, call out to him with a whistle and watch him fly up.

But looking at the tree that day, Marcelo had a huge and unpleasant surprise. Someone had placed a cage there on top of the branch and placed “his” bird's nest inside it.

- What is this? - He thought nervously - What nonsense is this? The chick hasn't even left the nest yet and they already want to get him used to a cage, poor thing!

A mixture of feelings took over Marcelo at that moment: anger, outrage, pity for the little bird and fear of losing his future little friend.

The tree was tall, and Marcelo could not climb it without help. So he went into the house, determined to look for a ladder, climb the tree and get the nest out of that cage.

Marcelo walked angrily, frowning, and thought: “I'm going to pull that cage out of there, take a hammer and smash it all over, so it never catches any birds again”.

- It could only have been Junior who did it - said the boy - He also likes birds and he always comes here to see the nest too. He's bigger than I am and must have managed to climb the tree. Let him wait for the tree at his house to have a nest too. I won't let him take my bird. No way!

He continued:

- From now on, I'm not going to anyone's house anymore. When I get home from school, I'll just play here in front of the house. That way, I'll be able to watch the nest more. The bird is already well grown and will soon be able to fly.

Marcelo didn't know if he had a ladder in his house, or where it could be kept. So, he went to talk to his mother:

- Mom, do we have stairs?

- Yes, we do, son, but why do you want to know?

- Because the envious Junior had the audacity to climb the tree in front of our house, tied a cage there and put the nest inside, for the bird to get used to the cage and then he would take everything for himself. He'll see what I'm going to do - replied Marcelo angrily, speaking loudly.

Marcelo's mother smiled, asked him to calm down and went on to explain what had happened.

When she was sweeping the front of the house, she noticed that the little bird had fallen from the nest. He was already grown up, he must have tried to fly, but he wasn't ready yet. So, to protect the little bird, to avoid being catch by a cat or have other problems, she came up with the cage idea. So, he could stay in the tree for a few more days, where his mother could take care of him until he was strong enough to fly.

Marcelo's father had made a hole in the roof of the cage for the mother bird to get in and out and, with care, he had managed to secure the cage to the top of the tree.

Marcelo, hearing all that, didn't know what to say. All those feelings that had sprung up in his heart in a second turned into others: relief, gratitude, and regret.

Relief, knowing that everything was fine, gratitude for his parents having protected the little bird and regret for being so angry with Junior, who, in fact, had done nothing.

- Wow, I'm glad I didn't find the ladder! I would make a big mistake, wouldn't I, Mom? Instead of protecting the bird, I would be putting it in danger - said Marcelo, in an outburst.

- Well, my son. Let's beware of hasty judgments. It's not good to make decisions or take sudden actions without knowing what's going on.

Marcelo hugged his mother with joy. In addition to feeling that everything was fine, he had learned an important lesson.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com