A Classic SHaC Moment: The Easter Birds

Setting: Astoria, Queens down by the East River
The driveway behind my house
Time and Date: Early afternoon on the Saturday before Easter, can't remember the year but I was really young.

Behind the houses in my part of Astoria, there's a long driveway that goes all the way down the block. Across the driveways, behind the houses, each home has a something like a backyard, a patio, or a garden. On my block, there must have been at least 10 kids between the ages of 4 and 13 and we all used to play together. It was the day before Easter Sunday, and I was outside playing with some of the kids from around the way. At some point, the everyone began to go home for dinner, but I stayed outside playing by myself. I'm not sure what I was doing, but I had a huge imagination and I'm sure I was doing something that was equally entertaining as it was retarded.

I'm not sure how much time went by when I noticed something in one of our neighbor's yards. There was some crunching of branches and leaves, like someone was walking around in it. I looked over and there wasn't anybody in there. My curiosity was peaked and I dropped down to the floor, and crawled over to the ledge of this raised yard. I kept hearing more crunching and stepping and movement, and I was getting nervous. After all, I was small. Whoever or whatever this thing was it was probably going to either a) kidnap me or b) eat me.

I finally got to the edge of the garden, and I peeked over and through the fence. And I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was colorful, massive, and featherful.

It was a peacock.

A peacock.

Yes, a peacock.

I gasped, but covered my mouth quickly so that I wouldn't scare the peacock away. I couldn't help but stare! And then, it got even weirder. Out from behind the brush that connects this yard to the next person's garden, was ANOTHER peacock! I thought to myself "Did they escape from a zoo??? But they're too fat to fly!! How did they get here? Were they kidnapped?....Can I keep them?" I thought I was freaking out and hallucinating, and I crawled back to my house (so the peacocks wouldn't see me. They were in Queens, who knew what they were capable of!).

I burst into the kitchen, where my mother was preparing tomorrow's dinner, and my then-teenaged sister was on the phone.

Me: Mami, mami! Hay unos pajaros muy grandes afuera en el jardin!!
Translation: Mom, mom! There are big birds in the garden outside! (Apparently I didn't know how to say "peacock" in Spanish. I still don't.)

Mom: (Laughs) Unos que?
Translation: A few what?

Sister: Oh my God mom, she's just being stupid.
(I later come to find out that my sister thought when I said "big birds" that I meant like Big Bird, Sesame Street Big Bird. I was imaginative, not an idiot. Geez.)

Me: Ven, ven!
Translation: Come! Come!

And I dragged my mother and my sister outside, against their will. And from far enough away, but close enough I could still see them, I pointed out the Queens peacocks.

Me (pointing and loud whisper): See! I told you!

And they both just stood there, mouths gaping.

It started to drizzle, and the peacocks didn't seem fazed by the rain at all. My mother urged us all to go inside. The next morning on Easter Sunday, I went back to the yard before we left for church to hopefully see the peacocks. But they were gone. I don't know what happened to them and I never asked that neighbor. Besides, he always stole our soccer balls whenever they went over the fence into his yard, so he was mean. And weird.