It was the end of the school year in a second floor high
school classroom with the windows open. I was giving a final exam. The room
was pin-drop quiet. So quiet, the sudden sound seemed amplified. The kids jerked their heads up and gave me questioning looks. I was
thinking, “What the…?”
It was the sound of a large number of young children
laughing as if in play—just like the sound of a playground…but not. Something
about it was slightly wrong. Off. Horror movie laughter, almost.
I mean besides the fact that it was right outside the
window. The second-story, high school window.
Creepy? You betcha.
Last year I started hearing jungle noises blasting from the
back of the landscaping section of a nearby Lowes store. At first I wondered if
this was a recording. Then I realized no store would blast that noise on
purpose. It had to be a mockingbird! I went home and looked it up, and sure
enough, mockingbirds have been known to imitate car alarms, frogs, roosters,
and even barking dogs. The one that had camped out among the wheelbarrows and
shovels and paving stones sounded like it had spent time around peafowl.
The high school where I was working the day of the creepy
laughter is just a football field away from a grade school. Why wouldn’t a
mockingbird mock a sound it had to have heard most of the day five days a week?
Wish I had a recording, though. Move over, Edgar Allen Poe.
This bird was WAY creepier than a crow. I hope I hear that sound Nevermore.
Have you ever heard a Mockingbird mock something weird?
Eat, drink, and be
scary. ~Unknown
Maybe...But I probably figured the sound was coming from an "original" noisemaker, and not from a mockingbird.
ReplyDeleteYeah, if you're not into birds, you usually wouldn't notice.
DeleteFreaky! Oh yes they do imitate, and so do mynah birds. I heard a guy whistle at me in 8th grade and was thrilled until the boy next to me said, "That's Bobby's Mynah bird in the yard."
ReplyDeleteBill had a relationship with a mockingbird. She was in love with him, or maybe the hard boiled egg yolks he offered her.
Interesting that both you and Bill have a history of being pursued by birds.... Although Val is right. Bill's sounds a wee bit cannibalistic!
DeleteI've never heard a mockingbird, but would love to -- at least I think I would, but now not so sure after your post :) Very original, and a little scary... Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've heard them, but they were undoubtedly imitating other birds at the time. Thanks for the comments and for stopping by!
DeleteNever heard a mockingbird, and never heard of anybody making one a cannibal.
ReplyDeleteSame with you - I'm sure you've heard them, but you have to be a bit of a bird-nerd to notice. I thought the same thing about the hard-boiled eggs!
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