30d30w: word 20

birthday  

secret whistles,
fiery code…

              nothing.
happy wrapping
hides the empty

         cage.

something whispers…

furry coat, thumping?

sniffing whiskers? 

subtle

Oh my goodness--I slept in for a change (until 7) and then raced out with a dish of dirty rice and beans for a "Family Field Trip" at school, where we all went out to clean up along the Anacostia River and then came back for a potluck lunch.  I came home and completely forgot that I hadn't selected Word 20!  But here we are with Tabatha's subtle to start off the 3rd stanza, where I will attempt to repeat the form established in stanza 1.

I noticed in Laura Shovan's comment that--ssshhh--we might be hunting a whiskery gift.  And why not?  Stanza 1 could totally mean that...except my concept was utterly different (hence the grief-stricken post I wrote along with Word 12.) In my mind, the secret whistles and fiery code were the birthday boy's last efforts to call his missing pet home in time for the celebration, but even after the party, the cake, the unwrapping of cheerful presents in happy wrapping, the cage still stood sadly empty.

Now that the party is over, just when hope for the return of the prodigal pet has dwindled almost to nothing, there are noises off.....Is something whispering? Is there a furry sort of sound, a little thumping, a slight whiskery sniffing somewhere?  It's very subtle--but it's there, and hope is revived!  Pistachios might be just the thing!