When Pico learned new words, I always thought it was cute. His laugh was so much like mine that it scared me. He’d say “Good morning!” when I walked into the kitchen, and sometimes he’d just blurt out something like “Where’s my coffee?”
But he began saying different things about two months ago.
“Don’t tell her.”
Over and over. The same quiet voice. The same pause between each word. I first thought he might have heard it from a movie or something I had on in the background.
Things got stranger after that. Even when there was no TV or radio on, Pico would say it. He would tilt his head, puff out his chest, and say, “Don’t tell her” in a voice that was so soft it sounded like he was plotting something. He would do this while sitting on his perch.
I tried to ignore it at first. It was known for birds, especially parrots, to copy sounds they heard, right? But something was off about how specific those words felt. There was something about the way he said them that made me think he knew something I didn’t.
Pico said it again one night while I was sitting on the couch looking through my phone. This time, he added something new:
“Don’t tell her.” “I’ll make it right.”
That made me stop right there. It made my heart beat faster, and I got a creepy chill down my spine. This was no longer just empty talk. This was done on purpose. There was something Pico was trying to say that didn’t make sense. The thing he said wasn’t just a line from a TV show. These words were too detailed and meant the wrong person.
My mind was going crazy as I leaned forward and stared at him. As if to see what would happen, I asked Pico in a soft voice, “What are you trying to tell me?”
His head cocked to one side as he blinked at me, as if he wasn’t sure if he should answer or not. After a beat, he said it again:
“Don’t tell her.” “I’ll make it right.”
I felt my stomach flip over this time. On the back of my neck, I could feel a cold sweat forming. Right away, my mind went to Rob, my fiancé. I thought things were going well with Rob and I after five years together. But as I thought about what Pico said, my heart began to beat faster. Who or what did Pico mean? How did he know that?
At first, I brushed it off. It could have been a chance. He might have heard something Rob said by accident. Maybe I thought about it too much.
Then Rob got home late one afternoon from work. He seemed off—far away and focused on something else. He looked at his phone a lot, and when I asked him about his day, he didn’t say much. At first, I just ignored it. He might have been tired.
The words came out of Pico’s beak again that night while we were lying in bed. He said it again, this time making it clear as day:
“Don’t tell her.” “I’ll make it right.”
Rob stopped moving and shook next to me. I thought I saw him flinch for a split second. He looked quickly at Pico’s cage and then back at me, as if he were caught doing something he couldn’t get away with.
“Rob, what’s going on?” I asked, my voice shaking a little. Why does Pico say that over and over? What is it?”
Rob thought for a moment, then looked back at the bird. I saw guilt in his eyes for the first time, which was something I had never seen before. He opened his mouth to talk, but then closed it again. The room went silent for a long time. At that point, it seemed like everything was hanging in the air.
He finally let out a heavy sigh. “I need to tell you something.” I didn’t know how to tell you sooner, but I did.
Even though my heart was beating fast before he said that, it got even faster when he did. “What do you mean?” I tried to keep my voice steady as I asked.
Rob sat up in bed after taking a deep breath. “I did something very wrong a few months ago.” Something I was going to fix but couldn’t stop it from getting worse. “I—”
I put up my hand, already making assumptions in my mind. “What do you mean you messed up?” “What took place?”
He clearly wasn’t sure what to say because he ran his hands through his hair. “I’ve been seeing someone else.” I didn’t mean for it to get this bad, but I didn’t know how to get out of it either. I thought I could fix it and hide it, then everything would be fine again. It didn’t, though. Things got worse.
It looked like the world around me was tilting. What I heard made no sense to me. “You… have you been seeing someone else?” Rob, how could you?”
His voice broke as he said, “I’m so sorry.” “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I thought I could handle it, but then things began to fall apart. I understand that this is hard for you to accept, but please know that I never meant for this to happen.
It felt like my legs were going to give out. My thoughts were all over the place, and I felt a wave of betrayal come over me. Why didn’t I see this coming? How could I have missed the signs? But then I thought of something in the back of my mind. Poco. He told me. He had been telling me the whole time.
I turned to look at Pico. He was sitting still on his perch, like nothing had happened. My thoughts were going fast. Was this just a strange coincidence? Or did Pico know something I didn’t?
This made my voice shake with anger and shock. “Rob, you lied to me,” I said. I’ve trusted you for years, but you’ve been telling me lies about this.
“I understand. I’m really sorry. I have no idea what happened. I want to fix what went wrong. Any way it takes, I need you to understand the truth. I didn’t want to lose you.
I got up and walked around the room quickly. It made no sense to me. Everything was going wrong. Rob had lied to me in the worst way possible. I thought I could trust him with everything.
I had a sharp, disturbing thought at that moment, though. Poco. Had he been telling me this the whole time? Did he know something before I did?
That bird seemed to have seen right through Rob’s lies and known what was going on long before I did. And that was the only reason that made sense. Pico wasn’t just repeating words; he was trying to tell me something I couldn’t see. It was like fate had worked together to show me the truth that was always there in front of me.
I gave myself some time to think over the next few days. Rob begged me to stay and said he would change things for the better. But I knew I couldn’t stay with someone who lied to me and hurt me. It wasn’t going to go away that Pico had tried to warn me before all of this came to light.
I had to make the hard choice to break up with Rob. It was tough. It broke my heart. I knew it was the right thing to do, though. Two things I had to do were trust myself and Picko.
It occurred to me that life can have strange turns as I packed up Rob’s things and watched him leave. Even though Pico’s words were strange, they led me to the truth. Somehow, he gave me the strength to leave a bad position that I might have stayed in for too long.
After a few months, I was at peace. I started to work on myself, rebuild my life, and learn to trust again. This time, I put my feelings ahead of everything else.
And Pico? He wasn’t just a pet after all. He was like a little guide, a voice of reason in a crazy world. I learned that the answers we need are often right in front of us, even if they show up in strange ways.
It’s easy to learn from this: trust yourself. Even when everything around you tries to make you doubt yourself, trust your gut. There are also times when the world shows us the truth in a strange way, whether we’re ready for it or not.
If you feel lost or unsure, know this: the truth is sometimes right in front of you, even in places you wouldn’t expect to see it. And you’ll be strong enough to make the right choice when you finally see it.
Share this story with someone who might need to hear it if it touched you. You do not know who is taking notes.