All was quiet

Prelude:
The house is quiet, the house is calm. Gentle classical study music wafts from one room, accompanied by an occasional sigh or rustle of paper. The cat is cruising around, from bed to food to some little playful speck of dust. He moseys outside, and creeps back in. The calm explodes.

Scene One:
"PIPPIN!!!!!!!!!" An outraged cry bursts through the peace. The cat runs. The person runs. The bird in the cat's mouth chirps. The cat growls his deepest 'get back' and darts under the bed. The person grabs the broom and starts shoving the cat out from his hiding place. The cat runs. The person runs. The cat hides, the person seeks. The cat ends up back in the parents' bedroom, and has a moment's reprieve as the person stops to work out where he's gone.

"Finally!" the cat thinks, "Now we can play!" He releases the bird, and is shocked to discover it doesn't want to play. He quickly catches and shoves it back in his mouth. But this time it's not so comfortable. The bird's fighting back. The person catches the cat, the cat drops the bird (eventually) and the bird flutters away. The cat leaps and puts the bird safely back in his mouth, continuing his steady growl of discontent. The person tries to carry cat carrying bird outside, but the cat's sick of it now and releases the bird.

Scene Two:
The cat is shut in the bathroom, and in the bedroom the person is trying to coax the bird down from the high non-opening window and out another one. The bird's not having any of it. He's been slobbered on, caught (thrice), growled through, and lost a couple of feathers. He shoots across the room and settles on top of the bookshelf. The person gives up, leaves the windows open, and exits the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Scene Three:
The cat is frantic, he knows that bird is in that room. The door is barricaded, the person ignoring the racket and desperately trying to focus on her textbooks. The cat meows mournfully. The person sighs. It's time to try again.

Scene Four:
The bird leaves the books, and ends up back on top of the curtain rail. It eats a fly from the spiderweb up there, and enjoys hanging out. The person is impatient, doesn't understand why the bird can't see the freedom not 10cm below him. The cat bursts in and see the bird. The cat leaps and swings, the person gasps and closes her eyes. The cat hangs off the curtain rail, over the gaping window. The bird only flies higher. The cat drops to the ground, the person grabs him and throws him out the door. It's time for the heavy equipment.

Scene Five:
A stepladder and a teatowel is all it takes. The person climbs the ladder, and gently grabs at the bird. Once, twice, and finally it's captured. The person defenestrates it. It flies free across the garden, enjoying the feel of the wind in its feathers.

The person smiles happily. A good deed has now been done. An orange streak races after the feathered escapee, but cannot catch this bird.