The Hummingbird

I don’t know what made me get out of bed at that moment.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and I was sleeping a bit late when I suddenly felt the urge to get up and come downstairs. Walking straight out to the deck, I saw my cat with something in its mouth.

Oh, man, I said to myself. He’s caught another bird. “Zippy, put it down!” I said forcefully, and he did, dropping a tiny hummingbird from his jaws. I looked down at the brightly-colored male lying on the deck, no more than three inches long including its bill.

It lay very…