A tragedy on my holiday. Well, it was for me.

Who's been a slack blogger then, hey? Oops.

I managed to wrestle some time off out of my boss, and I've spent the last week at glorious Mooloolaba, one of my favourite places. It's been good to take some time out alone and just think, walk, swim and read. I feel soothed mentally which is what I really needed.

On Thursday afternoon I had the most wonderful massage. I almost floated back to my room, and I'd not been back long when I heard an almighty thud that seemed to reverberate through the unit. I stuck my head out on the 8th floor balcony... then I froze.

A beautiful rainbow lorikeet was lying on the ground, blood pooling from its beak, twitching ever so slightly. I could tell from the angle it was lying that it had broken its neck, presumably from flying into my glass balcony doors. It was feebly opening and closing its mouth, trying to sqwark, trying to cry for help from its flying mates, I don't know. I sat with it, stroking it, attempting to console it while its eyes glazed over. It died fairly quickly, but it was too long, painfully long.

I started bawling and couldn't stop. This poor little bird, just doing what it did every day, killed by something as stupid as a door. I cradled it for a while. Then I wondered what to do with its body. There was no way I could put it in a rubbish bag. I couldn't bear to think of a living thing being thrown away like that. When it was dark, I took it with me down towards the beach and buried it in one of the gardens nearby.

Maybe it was silly of me. It was just a bird, not a pet, just some random animal that happened to die near me. I don't know that anyone else would have done the same. But at least I felt better in myself that I'd given this creature a proper goodbye.

The heartbreaking thing? Today, there was another rainbow lorikeet sitting on the railing above where my bird died. I think it was its mate. It didn't fly away when I approached it. Just sat and looked at me, and at the bloodstain on the ground I hadn't washed off yet. Even now, I feel such sadness for these lovely birds. Maybe I'm just a big sook.

Farewell, my little friend x