The electricity was back on in our apartment building.
But Mr. Calabria said no one could turn on any air conditioners yet.
The workmen needed to put in special wiring for that.
But our lights were back on, and our refrigerator was humming again.
My head was humming too.
"I have a plan," I told my friends.
"Let's teach Tufty to talk.
Then maybe he'll talk instead of making loud noises."
"But, Iggy," Jenny reminded me. "Tufty doesn't talk.
I don't think he can learn to say any words."
I thought for a moment.
"I did a research project in school about parrots," I said.
"You can teach them to talk by repeating the same words over and over again."
Josh seemed to like my idea.
"We could use my computer to make a recording," he said.
"Then we could play it over and over for Tufty."
"That's a great idea!" I said.
Josh ran downstairs to get his computer.
"Since Molly is Tufty's owner, I think she should make the recording," I suggested.
A few minutes later, Josh came back.
He plugged in his computer and placed it in front of Molly.
"Ready?" asked Josh.
"Wait!" cried Molly. "What am I supposed to say?"
"Say something calming," Jenny suggested, "like 'Now it's time to go to sleep.'"
"But Tufty is already asleep," I pointed out.
Sure enough, Tufty was still asleep with his head under his wing.
"I'll wake him up," said Molly.
"Tufty!" she said, gently nudging him. "Wake up!"
Tufty woke up and opened his mouth wide.
"Uh-oh, here comes the subway train!" cried Jenny.
Everyone put their hands over their ears.
But all Tufty did was yawn.
"Well, at least he's awake now," said Josh.
Josh tapped a key on his computer, and Molly started recording.
"My name is Tufty, and I'm a very quiet parrot," she said softly.
"Good!" said Josh.
"Now I'll fix the computer so Molly's recording will repeat over and over."
Josh pressed more buttons on his computer.
Then he pressed a key to play Molly's recording.
"My name is Tufty, and I'm a very quiet parrot," we heard Molly say.
Tufty opened his eyes and cocked his head.
"He's listening!" whispered Jenny.
"Let's leave him alone so he can pay attention," I said.
We went in Molly's room and played cards.
From the living room, we could hear Molly's voice again and again:
"My name is Tufty, and I'm a very quiet parrot."
Molly glanced at a clock.
"How long do you think it will take for Tufty to learn to talk?" she asked.
"We'll go back in twenty minutes," I said.
"That should be long enough.
Parrots are smart."
Exactly twenty minutes later, we all crept back into the living room.
Molly's voice was still droning away on the computer.
But Tufty was fast asleep!
"I guess my voice put him back to sleep," said Molly.
"He didn't learn a thing!" groaned Jenny.
"Don't be so sure," I said.
"Sometimes people learn new things in their sleep.
Maybe parrots can too."
At that moment Tufty opened his eyes.
He shook his feathers.
Then he stood on one foot and opened his beak.
"Look! He's going to talk!" cried Molly.
But Tufty didn't talk.
Instead he made a sound.
Broo-ooo-oot!
It was the longest, loudest car horn I had ever heard.
Molly's mom ran into the room.
"Molly!" she cried. "Tufty is too loud!
He has to quiet down by tonight.
If he doesn't, we'll have to find him a new home!"