“I knew the cough well. But I took Mr. Green to the veterinarian and he told me what I expected, the cough was not the bird’s.”
This story is told by a forty-one year old woman looking by back on her memories of her childhood, especially her memories of her grandfather. The story switches back-and-forth between her childhood and her most recent memories of Mr. Green. Her grandfather is connected to the parrot, Mr. Green. The parrot lets her feel connected to her grandfather, even though he died when she was twenty-four.