Copyright 1998 -- Robert Baer Jr. PROLOGUE Even wonder what would happan if the world had gone "to the birds?" It has, in BirdWorld! This is the continuing saga of Robin Mallory, working mom, devoted wife and media personality. How does she handle all of these responsibilities? I'll bet Chipper Birdwell, Robin's father, can tell us! BirdWorld -- "The Interview" As we approach old Chipper's birdhouse, we can't help but notice the new front door on it. It's bright lime green color clashes with the rest of the painted yellow walls. Slowly the front door opens and Chipper Birdwell emerges. "Hi there, nice to see you again! I'll bet you're wondering where this funny looking door came from, aren't you? You see, I had to have my front door repaired, the hinges were worn and it's very weather-beaten, didn't you notice that all the other times you came to visit me? Well, anyway a friend of mine lent me this door to replace my regular door until it's refinished and fixed, understand? Good! I know, this temporary door does kinda "stand out" don't it? Well, isn't that the way it always is when something or someone has to be "replaced?" Take what happaned at Robin's radio station a few weeks ago: Robin was a very worried bird! She had gotten the word from the doctor that Thrush Limbird's injuries would be keeping him on complete bedrest for a month, possibly six weeks! Someone had to be found to replace Thrush for that period of time on his talk show. Robin and Mr. Bizsop agreed that someone had to be hired immediately to fill in for him. It was Monday morning, Robin came to the office early to look through the weekend mail for any resumes or inquiries for the position. It was so early, the only one in the entire building was Wild Bill Bluejay doing his morning show, he saw Robin through the booth and quickly scribbled a hand-written sign that said,"HI THERE EARLY BIRD, GOT ME A WORM?" Robin laughed when she saw it! As she walked by Babs' desk, she couldn't help but notice a strange looking multi-colored envelope that was sitting upright in the middle of it. It was unsealed and simply addressed to WBIRD so Robin read the letter that was inside it. It read simply: "Greeting! I have five years of experience in radio broadcasting and I will be coming into your office tommorrow to iinterview for the position posted in the paper, Signed, the bird with the scarlet ribbon." No name, no address, just simply the letter in the funny colored envelope. When the rest of the staff arrived, Robin showed them the letter. Meadowlark Gremmon, Howard Yates and Edward R Sparrow soon got into a bit of an argument over who THEY thought had wriiten the letter. When Robin showed the letter to Mr Biszop, he too was more than a little curious. Babs thought it was exciting and was bragging how that she'd be the first one to spot this "mystery bird" when he arrived. Robin even held the letter up to the booth where Wild Bill was working, and when he read it, he quickly squibbled a sign with one word on it: WILD! All morning, Robin, Edward, Babs, Howard and Meadowlark were watching the door, anxious to meet the bird with the scarlet ribbon. There was a few "false alarms," once when a tall minor bird came into the office, Babs ran up to it but discovered this was a BPS delivery lady with a package for Mr Biszop. Every bird that walked through or even past the office door was "fair game" even Miles Stringer, the janitor was mistaken for the writer of the strange letter. As time passed, even Mr Biszop could be seen peeking out through his office door, hoping to be the first bird to "sight" that bird! The afternoon went slowly that day, still no sign of the bird with the scarlet ribbon. Several more "close calls" though, a Baltimore Oriole walked in and asked Babs if the station was doing any hiring. "So it's you!" she exclaimed before glancing down at the pearl necklace she was wearing, it wasn't a scarlet ribbon, and besides she only wanted an application, not an interview. Time passed slowly, it was almost 4 o'clock and still the "mystery bird" hadn't showed up. Mr Biszop called everyone into his office for a meeting, all except Robin who was in the booth doing her show. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr Biszop began,"I spoke with Robin earlier during a commercial break and she is in complete agreement with me. This 'bird with the scarlett ribbon' has had this entire office in a frenzy all day! All of you have been on the edge of your seats watching every single bird that has appeared in the lobby!" "Excuse me, Mr Biszop," Edward R Sparrow said calmly,"but haven't you been watching that door also?" "Well......" Mr Biszop hesitated,"YES, OK, I'll admit it, I too am wondering who the mystery bird is! There hasn't been this much excitement in this office for quite a while. Robin and I agree, when that bird finally walks through that front door, he's hired!" "WOW!" Meadowlark chirped,"now THAT'S a slam dunk!" "Brilliant!" Howard added,"this bird is simply brilliant!" "I can't believe I never thought of doing something like that on the air!" Wild Bill exclaimed. "I'm getting back out in the lobby," Babs said excitedly,"maybe that bird is out there now!" That proclamation caused a small "stampede" out of Mr Biszop's office! When everyone ran to Bab's desk, there were several birds in the lobby! Sitting on the lobby's couch was a nervous robin holding a briefcase, at the door stood a worbbler with his back turned away from them, and on the far right was a dove with a smile on her beak. "Who is the mystery bird?" Babs whispered to the others. "There's only one way to find out!" Edward whispered back,"Babs, you're the receptionist, offer all of them a cup of coffee!" So Babs placed several cups of coffee on a tray and proceeded to walk toward the seated robin. She noticed that he was wearing a scarf around his neck, Babs curiousity got the best of her. "Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?" she asked and the nervous robin simply muttered,"no thank you." Without thinking, Babs grabbed the man's scarf and said,"let me hang this up for you, sir!" The robin wasn't wearing a scarlet ribbon, and the sudden "snatching" of his scarf scared him so bad, he grabbed his briefcase and ran out the front door screaming! This attracted the attention of the worbbler standing near the door who suddenly turned around and said, "what did you do to that robin, young lady?" Babs was speechless, she nearly dropped her coffee tray! "I'm Reverend Miller, I came to talk to someone about setting up a radio program for our church, but first I'm going to see if I can catch that robin and calm him down! I'll be back later to talk with your station manager!" the worbbler shouted as he ran out the door. Babs was too scared to approach the dove, but to her surprise, the dove walked over to her and said,"don't sweat it deary, we all make mistakes." The dove grabbed a cup of coffee and said,"just show me to Dr. Cosgrove's office please." "Dr. Cosgrove's office?" asked Babs. "Yes," the dove replied,"I'm here for my annual physical, am I too early?" All Babs could do was point to the large WBIRD Radio sign which was directly over her head. "Oh boy!" the dove chirped,"I'm in the wrong office!" She was out the door in a flash! All the staff remained huddled in a corner watching Babs as she sat the tray down on the coffee table with a look of confusion on her face. "I'd like a cup of coffee, please miss," a voice muttered. There was someone else in the room, this person had been in the far left side of the room, and had gone completely unnoticed by everyone! It was a bird with an open newspaper in front of them. As Babs walked over, she saw that this bird was in a motorized wheelchair. "This can't be the mystery bird, either" Babs thought to herself. When the bird lowered the paper, Babs noticed that she was a rather short Cardinal,"my name is Carla," she said, what's your's?" "They call me Babs, but my real name is......" Babs stopped in mid sentence. "What's the matter, Babs?" Carla asked as she placed the paper on the table and adjusted her scarlet ribbon. "It's YOU! IT'S YOU! YOU'RE THE ONE!" Babs shouted and hopped all over the lobby, "HEY EVERYONE, I'VE FOUND THE MYSTERY BIRD!" Meadowlark, Howard, Edward and Mr Biszop all ran over to Carla! Robin saw all the commotion and ran out of the booth to see the "bird with the scarlet ribbon." "Well," Carla said,"I certainly didn't expect my little note to cause such a panic, all I wanted was a chance to interview...." "What interview?" Mr Biszop interrupted,"YOU'RE HIRED!" "But don't you want to read my resume, talk to be about my experience?" "Young lady, anyone who can cause this much excitement is MY kind of radio personality! How soon can you start?" "Well, I have a sample script here, but I ....." "GREAT, Robin, get back into the booth and announce that, err what's your name?" "Carla Delmar" "Announce that Carla Delmar will be on the air next! You'll be on the air in an half hour, OK?" "Sir, I'm so surprised, how could you just hire me like that?" "I have a gut feeling about you, Carla, you have style, you have pizzazz, you're just what this station needs!" "WOW, thank you sir!" "Call me Mr Biszop, I'm the owner of this station, welcome aboard!" The entire staff welcomed Carla, and that evening she was on the air! Looks like Mr Biszop's instinct was right, Carla was superb! A very able "replacement" for Thrush! No one ever found out who the "scared robin" was, I guess that's one "mystery bird: that'll remain a mystery! Sometimes change can be a good thing, except when it comes to front doors! Maybe I should paint this thing yellow to match the rest of the house, I don't know. It's a rather unique looking door, and that makes it special! On second thought, I'll leave it green! You talked me into it! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call the carpenter shop and see how my old door is coming along. See you later! ----------------------------------------------------------------------