Good Morning, dear reader! Sorry to wake you so early but I need a small favor. If you ever come across a tiny blackbird, could you please explain to him the difference between a live bird and a reflection? You must be wondering why I would ask you to do such a ridiculous thing. Well, you must know dear reader, so here it is.

One morning, I woke up to the continuous sounds of 'phat' against my window. When I woke up with the groggiest eyes you've ever seen and hair looking like it was straight out of Scary Movie, I spotted him! A little blackbird, which suddenly rose, fluttering up to my window with great speed and urgency. Then, 'Phat' and 'Thud', as he banged against the glass and fell flat down on the ground. He kept up this exercise; as I got out of bed and tried looking less scary before I went down to investigate this bird and his suicidal tendencies. 

Ten minutes later, I found myself outside the window looking at Black Maniac. I named him that. I will not explain, dear reader the story behind the name, as you are already familiar with my severe lack of imagination. By the way, it is BM for short.

BM seemed to think that there was a little Ms. Blackie (Ingenious name, I know) on the other side and kept wanting to say hello. From then on, I kept a steady track of his progress. He kept at it for several days. Talk about a dodo of a blackbird.

Every morning I would wake up to the sounds of 'flutter', 'phat' and 'thud'. I stopped setting the alarm, imagining I would never need one, until one Sunday morning, I actually overslept! Where was Black Maniac? More investigation due, dear reader. I spotted BM sitting on the wall, looking forlornly at his own reflection. The poor lovesick creature was wondering why he, a handsome bird with strong wings, a shiny black coat and an unbreakable head I might add, was being resisted. Was she blind to his charms and did she not see how tough he was? All these sterling qualities could not fetch him a single date?

As I looked at him I was reminded of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection and pined away when he could not have 'her'. Our BM however, is a fairly modern Narcissus. I saw him not two days ago, perched on a high branch, sharing berries and cootchie - cooing with another black beauty. Sigh! So much for love.

He flies by my window sometimes, with a haughty look reserved for Ms. Blackie, his own reflection. Well, as ex-BM flies away for his date, my dear reader, I think it is time again to set the alarm. So if you ever see a blackbird, which bangs against your window with no apparent reason, you know exactly why.