Eight Uncles' Beloved Treasure (Lily)

Chapter 9 Stubborn

Gilbert continued to accompany Lilly in her efforts to persuade the parrot after chasing Debbie away. He was irritated at the prospect of having to sweet-talk an animal into following them home rather than trapping it.

“Come on, Polly. I’ll feed you delicious meat if you come down,” the man coaxed.

The parrot stared at Gilbert and shook its head. “No meat. No meat! No fat!”

When he saw the animal was refusing to cooperate, he took a deep breath and resorted to his last resort, “Lilly, let’s go. Ignore the parrot.”

Tears welled up in Lilly’s eyes as she clutched Gilbert’s shirt and begged, “Please, Uncle Gilbert. Don’t abandon Polly.”

It broke his heart to watch Lilly in such distress. Hence, he apologized, “I’m sorry, Lilly. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have said that.” He wanted to slap himself hard when he realized that he had forgotten the little girl was overly protective of her friends.

Lilly was surprised because that was the first time anyone had apologized to her. She smiled and patted Gilbert on the shoulder. “It’s all right, Uncle Gilbert.”

Even though she had expressed her regrets in the past, no one had assured her that everything was fine. The little girl promptly comforted her uncle, knowing that the apologizer would feel horrible if she did not respond.

They then turned their focus to the parrot.

“Polly, be good now. Uncle Gilbert didn’t mean to trick you. He isn’t a bad person,” Lilly assured.

“I’m sorry, Polly. Please come down. We are going to Clodston and the garden there was huge. We can even find you a female friend…”

They were taken aback by the duo’s peculiar behavior, and upon further clarification,

persuading a parrot?

the parrot would be difficult; Gilbert

started singing, “Gilby

retorted, “Why don’t you do it if you’re

one arm. “Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!” The man patted his raised arm to signal

widened her eyes and thought, Uncle Edward

Jonas crossed his arms and

Dumb! Dumb Dumb!” Polly

the parrot and screamed, “Damn it! Get

Don’t trick me!” Polly flapped

Edward’s incredulous expression;

but he isn’t that fierce. Uncle Gilbert and Uncle Bryson are nice and gentle. Uncle Jonas looks obedient but deep down he’s mean. Uncle Edward looks like a fiery dragon, always on the verge of exploding. My mummy’s brothers are so unique. I think I like my uncles better than my

gaze and pretended everything was all right. The man smirked when he saw how timid the little girl was. He then spoke, “Don’t waste your effort, Edward. This parrot only

would you know that?”

laughing and replied,

as Edward was about to throw a tantrum, Bryson called

her toy rabbit. She turned to face the parrot and urged, “Polly, hurry. We’re getting ready to leave.

her cuteness. Even Edward’s heart was softened; she reminded him

its wings toward the girl, but as it was ready to land on her shoulder, Paula’s voice echoed through the