Free as a Bird Read Online Free

was bout to gobble that wrigglin worm a bunch of other crows came swoopin down on him. They started to peck and hit Mister Crow with their wings an screeched at him. When they finally flew away he was lyin crumpled on the ground.
    I was sad cause I thought poor Mister Crow was dead. But after a bit he lifted his head an got up on his feet. He stood lookin round for a liddle while. Then he flapped his wings an hopped on that one leg of his over to the grass an began huntin for nother worm — yup, jus like nothin happened. When he got a good one, hehopped over to the puddle again. An jus like before, a bunch of em other crows flew down an beat him an took his worm. He layed there still as can be till they was all gone, then got up an went off huntin again. Yup, that happened over an over. Made me think it’s not jus humans who got retards — crows had em too.
    Finally, Mister Crow got hisself the biggest worm ever. But that last time he dint take it to the puddle. Nope, he jus gobbled that dirty ole worm right there on the spot. Then after a lotta wing flappin, he flew off oudda sight.
    I wondered bout that ole crow for a long time — yup. An wondered why em other ones hit him an stole from him like that. Musta been lots of other worms round for them to eat. An nother thing — after bein beaten an stole from why’d Mister Crow keep tryin? Why dint he never give up?

    A few days after a new kid came to live at Ward 33. I watched him comin down the steps into the garden holdin some lady’s hand — maybe she was his momma. He had black hair — yup, black as Mister Crow. An a nother thing — he limped. That was on account of one leg was shorder than the other. That’s what made me think maybe he was Mister Crow come back pretendin to be a boy.
    He was havin one of those snifflin cries. But he stopped priddy quick when he saw us kids in the yard. He came over to us an had a good look. Then he smiled right at me. I dint smile back on account of me knowin that soon he was gunna be very sad. But for the time bein he looked real inerested in everythin round him — yup, made me member the first time I came to Woodlands.
    His name was Jimmy. We already had a Jimmy on Ward 33. So the uniforms called him Jimmie T an the other kid got called Jimmy P — maybe on account of he sure peed hisself a lot.
    The uniforms talked to the lady while Jimmy T was busy lookin round. She wiped her eyes a lot an then after a liddle bit opened her arms an Jimmy T ran for a hug. They was both cryin somethin terrible. Jimmy T tried to follow her out the gate, but the uniform’s put their hands on his shoulder an wouldn’t let him go.
    An jus like I thought, there was a lotta cryin an screamin that day — an it only got worse an worse. That Jimmy T was priddy strong for a liddle kid — yup, lot stronger than me. After a while they threw him in the bad kid room. Us other ones listened all night while he kicked at the door an walls.
    Then Morris said, “Get the Boys up here to shut this kid up.” After that there was a liddle more ruckus — but suddenly everythin went quiet. Dunno why — but I cried after that.
    We dint see Jimmy T the nex day, or the day after that neither. When he finally came in I hardly knowed it was him. No more nice boy clothes — nope, not a’tall. Instead he wore a baggy shirt that was long as his knees an big pants that bulged from the diaper he was wearin. His black hair was messy — jus like the rest of us — an his eyes was red an puffy. I knowed it was Jimmy T standin there — only it wasn’t the same one no more. Nope, jus nother kid nobody wanted.
    Nobody noticed him comin in the day room cept me — that’s on account of em other ones was bein sleepy heads. Yup, the ones who liked to rock was rockin back an forth, back an forth. Some of the other ones was jus starin out the barred windows. An the ones who liked to watch