The Wallpaper Birds

Our room had wallpaper crowded with small blue birds. At bedtime they all faced the window. I remember that distinctly, because my brother counted them instead of sleeping.

In the morning, the birds faced the door. Our landlady blamed the light. The next night we pinned a sheet of paper over one bird and traced its outline through the thin paper.

By breakfast the outline still faced the window, but beneath it the printed bird had turned away. The landlady gave us another room. She never charged us for the first.