This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Kitten: Meow, meow.

[0:06] Clucky: Quack, quack.

[0:08] Kitten: We are two best friends.

[0:13] Clucky: Trying to make sense of the world around them.

[0:18] Kitten: Adventures and discoveries around every bend.

[0:24] Clucky: Come along and explore with them.

[0:31] Kitten: Meow, meow.

[0:34] Frel: Et voila. Kitten, ma chérie, I present to you a gift.

[0:39] Kitten: Oh, hi Frel. That wasn't necessary. What is that?

[0:44] Clucky: Frel, buddy. Good to see ya. Kinda looks like a mangled flower.

[0:49] Frel: It is a large beautiful blossom that paled in comparison to my kitten. But nevertheless, I decided it must be a gift to my beautiful amour to show the depths of my feelings.

[1:02] Kitten: That is so darling of you, Frel. Kitten, you're so lucky.

[1:07] Clucky: It's a strange flower. It seems to be moving.

[1:10] Frel: I've heard the phrase shaking like a leaf before, but never shaking like a flower.

[1:14] Kitten: Belle is right. Frel, where'd you get this flower?

[1:17] Frel: I found it on my way over here, in the garden.

[1:21] Clucky: Kitten, it did seem to be strangely wiggling in my mouth on the way here.

[1:26] Kitten: Oh dear. Maybe we should take a peek inside of it. I'll gently open it up a little bit more.

[1:33] Clucky: Maybe it's just a bee. But be careful, Kitten. You don't want to get stung.

[1:38] Kitten: Who are you calling a bee? I'm not a bee.

[1:42] Clucky: Wow, look at you. You're the tiniest bird I've ever seen.

[1:47] Kitten: You are a bird, right?

[1:49] Hummingbird: Yes, I am a bird who is clearly having the worst 24 hours of luck.

[1:54] Kitten: Oh, we're so sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do to help?

[1:58] Hummingbird: Make sure that you and that black cat doesn't eat me?

[2:02] Kitten: I do not eat birds.

[2:04] Hummingbird: After that last encounter with Miss Peckham, I have not eaten or killed any birds.

[2:10] Kitten: I only meant to bring a flower to my precious Kitten.

[2:13] Clucky: What were you doing inside of it?

[2:16] Hummingbird: Well, the short story is drinking nectar and trying to gain some strength.

[2:21] Kitten: But there's so much more that's happened.

[2:24] Clucky: Oh, you poor thing. Kitten won't hurt you. She's a very sweet cat that considers birds her friends.

[2:30] Kitten: You can come out a bit more of that flower.

[2:34] Hummingbird: I'm still damp thanks to that cat.

[2:38] Clucky: Oh, you're a hummingbird.

[2:40] Kitten: Do you hum a lot? What songs do you know? I love to sing.

[2:46] Hummingbird: Join in if you know it.

[2:57] Hummingbird: There once was a hummingbird. He was so small, he bit in a flower.

[3:03] Clucky: Nobody?

[3:05] Hummingbird: Oh, man.

[3:07] Clucky: No, I don't sing. I chirp, but I wouldn't call it singing or humming.

[3:12] Hummingbird: Actually, hummingbirds got their names because of their flying.

[3:15] Hummingbird: Their wings move so quickly it makes a humming sound.

[3:19] Clucky: I wouldn't call it humming. It's more like buzzing. See?

[3:24] Kitten: That's cool. Look at you hovering in place. I didn't realize birds could do that.

[3:30] Hummingbird: It's actually unique to hummingbirds. We're also the only birds that can fly backwards, too.

[3:39] Clucky: Oh, la, la. C'est incroyable. With such skills, how can life be so bad?

[3:44] Hummingbird: Well, it all started yesterday afternoon.

[3:47] Hummingbird: I was just flying around looking for nectar when something red caught my eye.

[3:52] Hummingbird: I immediately zipped over to it and discovered it was not a flower but some sort of tool humans use.

[4:00] Hummingbird: When I rose up, I found myself trapped.

[4:03] Kitten: Oh, that sounds frightening.

[4:05] Clucky: Was it a trap? Did it have bars? Were you in a cage?

[4:09] Hummingbird: No, I don't think so.

[4:11] Hummingbird: I just kept flying up into this white space, and it didn't allow me to go any higher.

[4:16] Hummingbird: I started flying frantically around looking for an opening so I could get out of it, and it felt like it was closing in on me.

[4:24] Kitten: Oh, that sounds frightening. But you eventually got out, right?

[4:28] Hummingbird: No! That's what I mean about my bad luck for the past 24 hours.

[4:33] Hummingbird: I just kept flying around and bumbling into this stone wall.

[4:36] Hummingbird: It looked like stone all around me, except for the ceiling, which was all bright and white.

[4:42] Clucky: Oh, that sounds dreadful.

[4:45] Hummingbird: I had a terrifying moment myself.

[4:47] Clucky: Don't you all remember when I nearly lost my right eye after scratching it on that blackberry vine?

[4:52] Frel: Mon dieu, that sounds terrible.

[4:55] Clucky: Those blackberry vines are a menace to society.

[4:58] Hummingbird: I myself have gotten scratched many a time.

[5:02] Kitten: Yes, Birgitta, we remember that, but I want to know what happened to the hummingbird.

[5:06] Clucky: So how did you finally escape?

[5:08] Hummingbird: I did it!

[5:10] Clucky: Well, hang on now. You must have escaped because you're here now.

[5:14] Hummingbird: I didn't realize that getting stuck was only the beginning of the dramatic events that then unfolded.

[5:20] Kitten: Oh, do share.

[5:22] Hummingbird: Well, I just kept flying in circles, trying desperately to get out.

[5:28] Hummingbird: I knew my life depended on it.

[5:30] Hummingbird: Because we fly so fast and our wings beat 50 to 70 times per second, we use a lot of energy quickly.

[5:38] Clucky: Oh, my. My wings don't beat that quickly, but I did a lot of flapping when I scratched my eye.

[5:44] Hummingbird: The skin near my eye is quite thin and not protected by feathers like the rest of my body.

[5:48] Hummingbird: It is really easy to get a serious wound in that area.

[5:51] Clucky: Was the wound so serious? Were you hospitalized?

[5:56] Hummingbird: Yes, I was.

[5:58] Clucky: You were not.

[6:01] Hummingbird: Well, I practically was.

[6:03] Hummingbird: The skin above my eye swelled up so much that I could not even open that eye.

[6:07] Hummingbird: Xander and the mom person had to catch me and put this blue goop on my head for days.

[6:13] Clucky: Blue goop would not have helped me.

[6:15] Hummingbird: I was getting progressively more tired and weak.

[6:19] Hummingbird: I thought that death was imminent.

[6:22] Clucky: Yeah, I'd agree that death would be an irritant in this situation.

[6:26] Hummingbird: Not irritant. I said imminent, meaning it was going to happen soon.

[6:32] Clucky: You'll have to excuse Clucky. Sometimes he mishears words.

[6:36] Hummingbird: I thought I was going to die, too. We have so much in common.

[6:40] Hummingbird: I was feeling so weak. There was a chain hanging down from the center of the ceiling.

[6:45] Hummingbird: I quickly grabbed onto it.

[6:47] Hummingbird: I couldn't perch on the stone any longer because I was afraid I'd slip and fall to my death.

[6:53] Hummingbird: I latched onto the chain with my weary feet and just rested.

[6:57] Hummingbird: It had to be evening.

[6:59] Hummingbird: I think several hours passed, but there was a glow from the lamp that was connected to the bottom of the chain.

[7:05] Hummingbird: It was the only thing that kept me from being in complete darkness.

[7:08] Hummingbird: I knew that death was knocking on my door.

[7:12] Kitten: Oh, my! This is a terrible story.

[7:15] Clucky: The only reason I know it didn't end badly is because you're here telling us the tale.

[7:19] Hummingbird: Otherwise, I don't think I'd want to hear the rest.

[7:22] Hummingbird: When morning came, I was so weak. I could barely keep my eyes open.

[7:27] Hummingbird: I must have fallen asleep clinging to the chain, but I had no strength at all.

[7:32] Hummingbird: A small breeze could have knocked me down to my death.

[7:36] Clucky: So who rescued you?

[7:38] Hummingbird: Well, in my case, it was Maddox.

[7:40] Hummingbird: She came down with Xander and noticed the bump that had grown above my eye causing it to close.

[7:45] Clucky: Not you, Brigito. We all know you were healed by the blue goop.

[7:49] Hummingbird: I'm so happy you were saved, too.

[7:51] Hummingbird: But in my case, in the morning, a human came through a door, looked up, and started yelling that I was still up there.

[7:58] Hummingbird: The next thing I knew, the chain wobbled and I fell upside down.

[8:02] Kitten: Oh, my! What a terrible story.

[8:05] Hummingbird: I fell upside down. Oh, my!

[8:08] Hummingbird: But the problem was, my foot got stuck on the chain.

[8:12] Clucky: Oh, that sounds frightening.

[8:15] Hummingbird: So now there I was, just dangling by one leg, caught in a chain, hanging upside down.

[8:22] Hummingbird: I didn't have any strength to pull myself up. I started making peace with dying.

[8:28] Clucky: Oh, mon dieu! This is a frightening story.

[8:31] Hummingbird: I've lived on the streets for so long, but never encountered such a confrontation with the end of my life.

[8:37] Clucky: Perhaps it is because they say cats have nine lives.

[8:40] Kitten: We don't really have nine lives for all.

[8:43] Clucky: Are you positive, ma chère? You are very intelligent.

[8:46] Clucky: So I must believe you know better than I.

[8:49] Kitten: Ahem. Shall I continue?

[8:52] Clucky: Oh, please do.

[8:54] Kitten: Well, yes. Hanging there, my life literally slipping away. There was some commotion and movement down below. I couldn't even open my eyes to see what was going on. I heard some voices, maybe three different ones, mentioning a ladder, a moving blanket, knocking me down with a broom. Just indistinct muffled voices, because I was too frail to hear.

[9:18] Clucky: Were they going to knock you down with a broom? The monsters!

[9:23] Kitten: I don't know exactly what happened, but I felt a gentle push, and then suddenly I was plummeting down, and then THUD! I landed on something soft, and then I felt some warmth surrounding my body, and some voices saying again, I was still alive, and that my neck hadn't broken.

[9:40] Clucky: That fall could have killed you.

[9:43] Kitten: You're very lucky to be alive. Those humans are heroes.

[9:47] Clucky: Well, not exactly, because then they brought some sweet nectar out to me, but I didn't have the strength to drink it, and then suddenly it was like the human dropped me into it, and I was suddenly just wet and sticky.

[10:02] Kitten: Were they trying to eat you? You know humans eat birds, right?

[10:06] Clucky: Not all birds. Maybe they thought you'd be a good snack.

[10:10] Kitten: Oh, the irony of being drowned in the liquid that would normally be life-saving!

[10:16] Clucky: Did they fill it with metal, too?

[10:22] Kitten: Irony, Clucky. It's when events or words that are opposite of what you'd expect are often found funny. It would be kind of funny to die in a liquid that would otherwise be nourishing to hummingbirds.

[10:30] Clucky: That wouldn't be funny at all!

[10:35] Kitten: Well, that's irony, not metallic.

[10:39] Clucky: Precisely! I think it was an accident, though, because then the humans seemed to be cleaning me with a wet cloth and stroking me and apologizing. Then they brought me out a smaller container of nectar, one that I couldn't fall into, and planted my beak in it. I barely had any strength to open my beak, but I knew this was my only chance for survival.

[11:01] Kitten: You should have heard them cheer when they realized I was swallowing the sweet, sweet nectar of life!

[11:08] Clucky: Oh, that reminds me of when Xander and the mom person came to treat me. Xander picked me up while the mom person got the goop. They had a whole conversation about which goop to use. There was a spray goop and one you could smear on. They decided on the one that you could smear on because it warned that if you got it on the eye, it could result in blindness.

[11:28] Kitten: I could have been blind in one eye!

[11:30] Clucky: Blind in one eye is not the same as almost dying.

[11:36] Kitten: No, it's not. It's definitely life-altering, but I couldn't even open my eyes because I was so weak. I just kept trying to drink the nectar and gain some strength. And then, while I was drinking, I kept hearing them talk about putting me in a box and what to do with me. I knew that I had to do everything I could to make my escape before they decided to keep me captive.

[12:02] Clucky: Could you not run away if you had no strength to fly?

[12:07] Kitten: Actually, no. Hummingbirds are not able to walk or run. We can perch with our legs and feet, but our fastest way to move is fly. When I finally had enough strength to sit upright without falling over, I suddenly found myself being placed into a clear box and then a metal lid was placed on top. I think I heard them say it was a cooling rack.

[12:30] Clucky: Oh, you were in the kitchen.

[12:33] Kitten: Isn't that where humans prepare food?

[12:35] Clucky: I had a sneaking suspicion that that's what they were planning.

[12:42] Kitten: I was a little panicky. I've never been inside a human's lair before.

[12:47] Clucky: Oh, calling it a lair makes it sound so much worse and scary.

[12:53] Kitten: It's not terrible inside a human's house. That's where I live.

[12:56] Clucky: I agree with Kitten. The home can be quite warm, dry, and comfortable.

[13:02] Kitten: Well, it turns out it wasn't that bad. They left me a small container of nectar, and I just kept drinking, and then I had enough strength to finally fly and hovered inside the box a little bit. It was a little scary, but I had to do it. It was difficult to fly in such a small box, and I certainly didn't have the strength to pop off the lid, so then I just perched on the side and waited to see what would happen.

[13:27] Clucky: And?

[13:29] Kitten: It wasn't long when the humans returned and discovered I had gained enough strength to start flying. They seemed very excited that I had survived the ordeal, and said they were going to let me go.

[13:40] Clucky: Woo-hoo!

[13:41] Kitten: All right!

[13:42] Clucky: That's awesome.

[13:43] Kitten: Hurrah!

[13:44] Clucky: Rook!

[13:45] Kitten: And so they must have set you free, because here you are now!

[13:49] Clucky: Yes. They took me outside near a large red flower that I normally feed from near their house, and lifted off the metal cooling rack lid. I was a little concerned about my ability to fly, because in a small enclosed space, I was fine. But out on the wall in an open, I felt a little nervous. But I plucked up some courage and then set off.

[14:09] Kitten: I landed in a nearby tree, looked back, and saw the humans waving at me.

[14:13] Clucky: They seemed happy.

[14:16] Kitten: Who seemed happy?

[14:17] Clucky: Arrgh!

[14:18] Kitten: Nonsense, Loki!

[14:19] Clucky: Again?

[14:20] Kitten: Stop surprising us like that!

[14:23] Clucky: But isn't that his name?

[14:24] Kitten: Surprise!

[14:26] Clucky: That's not my...

[14:27] Kitten: Never mind.

[14:29] Clucky: You scared off our new friend.

[14:30] Kitten: Come back, hummingbird!

[14:32] Clucky: We don't even know your name!

[14:34] Kitten: Oops!

[14:35] Clucky: Sorry!

[14:36] Kitten: Come back, hummingbird!

[14:39] Clucky: I feel like I've seen you before.

[14:41] Kitten: I live down below.

[14:44] Clucky: I think you're the dog that's near one of the flowers I feed at.

[14:48] Kitten: I know my human mom feeds hummingbirds. She just rescued one this morning.

[14:52] Clucky: I heard all about it.

[14:54] Kitten: Got stuck right outside our front door, and apparently they had to use a fireman technique of spreading a big blanket so it had something soft to land on.

[15:01] Clucky: They were so pleased that they saved a hummingbird from the brink of death.

[15:06] Kitten: Well, Albie, what a small world we live in!

[15:09] Clucky: This is the hummingbird your family saved, I think.

[15:12] Kitten: Freya almost ate him.

[15:14] Clucky: I did not!

[15:15] Kitten: It was an accident!

[15:17] Clucky: Here's incisors of flower I want to give to my kitten!

[15:21] Kitten: It sounds like you have a bit of a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, little guy.

[15:25] Clucky: Oh, Loki, if you want to hear about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I have a story for you.

[15:29] Kitten: I nearly went blind by a blackberry vine.

[15:35] Clucky: Hold that thought, Brigitte.

[15:37] Kitten: Little hummingbird, are you okay now?

[15:40] Clucky: There are some of those red flowers that you like on the other side of our coop.

[15:45] Kitten: This hovering is taking a lot out of me.

[15:47] Clucky: I think I will go get a snack.

[15:49] Kitten: If you're going to be around the area, we should know your name.

[15:54] Clucky: It's Humphrey.

[15:57] Kitten: So, Loki, as I was saying, I was just minding my business looking for worms when this blackberry vine attacked me.

[16:07] Clucky: Thank you for joining us for today's episode.

[16:11] Kitten: Have you ever had someone interrupt your story to tell their own?

[16:15] Clucky: How did it make you feel?

[16:17] Kitten: You can share your stories with us on our website at kittenandclucky.com or on our Facebook and Instagram pages at kittenandclucky.

[16:25] Clucky: We'd also love it if you leave us a review on wherever you get your podcasts.

[16:30] Kitten: It helps others find our show.

[16:32] Clucky: Voices for today's characters were done by

[16:35] Kitten: Julian Rosem, as Humphrey.

[16:38] Clucky: But there's so much more that's happened!

[16:40] Kitten: Christine Rosem, as Pharrell.

[16:43] Clucky: Oh la la, c'est incroyable!

[16:45] Kitten: Corwin Rosem, as Loki.

[16:48] Clucky: Who seemed happy?

[16:49] Kitten: Parker Daniels, as Brigitte.

[16:51] Clucky: You were not!

[16:54] Kitten: Bella.

[16:55] Clucky: Calling it a lair makes it sound so much worse and scary.

[16:58] Kitten: And Brigitte.

[17:00] Clucky: The monsters!

[17:01] Kitten: And Amy Daniels, as Kitten.

[17:04] Clucky: Well, that's irony!

[17:06] Kitten: And Clucky.

[17:07] Clucky: I love to sing!

[17:09] Kitten: Today's script was written by Christine Rosem and Amy Daniels.

[17:13] Clucky: The Kitten and Clucky podcast is edited and produced by Amy Daniels.

[17:17] Kitten: All rights reserved.

[17:19] Clucky: Special thanks to our theme song composer, Henry Johnson.

[17:22] Kitten: Did you know he wrote that music when he was only 12 years old?

[17:26] Clucky: Wow, so talented!

[17:28] Kitten: Music and sound effects provided by Epidemic Sound.