Sandra and the Robin

By Carol Bucklew

From her bedroom window, Sandra spied a robin tugging at a worm. She ran to the kitchen and told her mother, “There’s a robin in the yard, and I’m going to catch it!”

Sandra scurried out the door and bounded toward the robin. The bird flew away. Sandra thought, I didn’t go fast enough. So when the robin landed in the yard again, Sandra raced as fast as her legs would go. But the robin was in the air before Sandra got halfway to it.

Sandra pushed her hands into her pockets. If I could fly, I could catch that robin, she thought.

Seeing it perched in the tree, she called, “Here, birdie. Here, robin.”

But the robin just flew to a higher branch, where Sandra couldn’t see it at all. Sandra was disappointed. She sat under the tree and squeezed her eyes shut and said, “Heavenly Father, please help me. I just want to see the pretty robin up close. I won’t hurt it, I promise.

Opening her eyes again, Sandra thought, Maybe if I had a worm, that robin would come to get it.

Sandra used her sandbox shovel to dig in the dirt near the porch steps. She turned the dirt over, as she’d seen Daddy do, and found a small, wriggly worm. Sandra picked it up and held it in the palm of her hand. Then she went over to the tree and held out her hand and called, “Here’s a worm, robin! Come and get it.”

But the robin didn’t come.

Sandra sat down on the porch step. She tossed the worm to the ground. A tear ran down her cheek.

Just then the robin landed in the yard. Sandra just sat there. She knew that if she moved, it would fly away again.

The robin hopped closer. Sandra held her breath as it hopped very close to her, snatched the worm, and flew away.

Sandra clapped her hands and laughed out loud. Heavenly Father had answered her prayer. She couldn’t catch a bird, but she could watch it up close if she sat very still and was very quiet. She laughed again and went inside to tell her mother.

Illustrated by Julie F. Young