by Antony J Waller

Created on: July 31, 2009   Last Updated: August 01, 2009

Romance is not always what it seems, and sometimes those little romantic moments are not always what they appear!

Picture the scene if you will. You are walking along the promenade by the sea front, hand in hand with the one you love. It is a lovely, warm summer's evening and the sun is going down, a golden orb on the horizon sliding slowly into the ocean. There is a gentle breeze blowing off the tops of the waves as they crash onto the beach. The smell of salt air is in your nostrils. A large, bright moon is already beginning to rise in the sky and stars are appearing, twinkling in the darkening sky. One or two cars are parked along the way, some with their windows wound down, the occupants gazing out to sea or mistily into each others eyes.

This is how it was as I walked hand in hand with my wife.

Suddenly another car pulls up, a green Datsun coupe, and parks sideways on to the beach. The driver is in his mid 50's, dressed in a white t shirt, black leather jacket and stonewashed jeans. He stops the car and undoes his seat belt. Slowly he leans across the passenger seat, reaches for the door and winds down the window. He then undoes the other seat belt and slides further down into his seat, but leaving his arm around trailing round the top of the passenger seat.

I get a poke in the ribs, and a voice by my side says:-

"What's he doing?"

My wife is not quite as tall as me, and knew I could see just a little bit more than she could. She has seen the car pull up in front of us and knew I was watching, perhaps a little too intently.

"Just a man. Out with his bird," I replied.

"Well she must be small, or low down in her seat. I can't see what she looks like." Her voice had dropped to a whisper now as we got closer.

"She is small," I said. "And wearing no clothes either. She's totally naked and white."

My wife quickens her pace, and crosses over to surreptitiously glance in the passenger window and catches the full view.

A white crested cockatoo in a bird cage on the passenger seat, sitting on a perch and gazing out the window at the sea and sky.

A man literally taking his bird out for a drive to enjoy the evening air. Like I said earlier, romance is not always what it seems. On this occasion ruffling a few feathers you might say. Well, my wife certainly ruffled mine!

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