My mother loves clocks. When I was 8 years old or so, she had a beautiful coo coo clock with ornate wood carving, decorative weights, a bronze pendulum, and lovely little yellow bird that popped out every 30 minutes and said, "COO COOOOOO"!
On the hour, it would make its obnoxious cry according to the time of day...So at noon or midnight, the bird would "COO COOOO" 12 times...On the half our it would simply pop out and "COO COO" once...I'm sure you get the point...
Most people who owned a Coo Coo clock would put the thing in a place like the living room where it could entertain you during the day and would be far enough away at night to let you sleep...Not my mother...She had the thing hanging in her bedroom...She said its sound cheered her up and relaxed her...I'm not sure what my father thought of this and I'm afraid to ask...
Sidney was my mother's Siamese cat and he was completely fascinated by the Coo Coo Clock and its not really difficult to figure out why...Sidney wanted to kill the bird.
He would sit for hours under that clock, staring up at it, his tail swinging back and forth in time with the Pendulum...Whenever the bird would leap forth from its little door and sing, Sidney would lunge up towards the clock, front legs outstretched, and claws out...Inevitably, though, he could never even reach the base of the clock and would fall back onto the floor -- always on his feet of course...Sometimes he'd look frustrated, but undaunted he'd return to his post, waiting for his enemy to reappear...
One night my parents and I went out to dinner. Sidney was sitting in his usual place under the clock while we were getting ready to leave. "Lynn," My dad said, shaking his head, "I think that cat's going to be ready for Valium by the end of the month. Are you sure you don't want to take that thing down for a while."
"Naw," Mom replied dismissively. "Its good for him. Besides, it keeps him away from my geraniums and my spider plant."
Later that night when we came home, I was sent up to my room to get ready for bed and my parents spent an hour or so relaxing in the living room. I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard a loud and dramatic yelp coming from the direction of my parents' bedroom...I ran to investigate...
My mother was standing in her bedroom doorway and had apparently just switched on the overhead lamp. The beautiful Coo Coo clock was lying on the floor in pieces. Apparently, Sidney had finally succeeded in his mission of destruction...
The Coo Coo Bird itself was not to be found. Sidney the cat was no where in sight...
We never did find that wooden bird and mother never bought another coo coo clock.
The End
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