It is not hard at all to picture the scene.

On an early afternoon in late spring, a rather exotic bird lands on the door of a local school as the sounds of children at recess buzz in the air.

“Drawn by the sound of human activity and children’s voices, it comes in search of food and water,” according to one observer. “Teachers who are outside monitoring the children take note of this bird. They notice the colors, the tag on the leg.”

The bird, tired from a long, strange journey, seems as interested in the humans on the playground as they are in him. For a weird moment, nothing happens. And then one clever teacher enters the fray, playing a role that will prove crucial for a family waiting in anxious distress a short distance away.

But look at me getting ahead of myself.

This story of Bijoux the bird comes from one Jeff Lagasse, who, along with his girlfriend, Heather Jones, and her 11-year-old son Max, had adopted the conure a few months before the dramatic scene at the schoolhouse.

Before taking Bijoux in, Heather had studied the many facets of bird ownership for months. When Bijoux joined the family, he was accepted by all, including Boots the family cat and Wicket the dog. All was well: a family scene fit for framing.

Until, that is, a brief lapse in household security led to anguish.

“Bijoux eventually learned to fly,” Lagasse explains, “and after flying around the house for a few weeks, it happened — what I had secretly dreaded. The door was open for a split second to let out our dog, Wicket, and poof, Bijoux was a free bird.”

Out the door Bijoux flew and into a world with which he was not familiar. The bird’s family watched in horror as their beloved conure vanished into the night.

The family began searching for Bijoux at once, of course, but hopes faded fast as the night only deepened.

“Getting a bird to come back to you isn’t like calling a dog,” Lagasse laments. “You don’t just call ‘Bijoux!’ and he comes over.”

But there were signs that the bird was still nearby. They could hear Bijoux calling to them from a neighbor’s tree and efforts began to coax him down.

“We used all manner of food and toy, and about a thousand different voices and sayings and cooings,” Lagasse said. “Anything we could think of. We did this for a couple of hours, until sunset. At that point, the bird calls from inside the tree ceased.

“I was sad, Heather was sad and Heather’s 11-year-old son, Max, was devastated.”

Sleep that night, said Lagasse, was hard to come by.

When morning came, Heather and Max held out hope the bird would come home. But Lagasse’s thoughts were darker.

“I didn’t say anything, but I had my doubts as to whether he would survive the night,” he explained. “Conures are not native to Maine and chilly weather can kill them. And if the chilly weather doesn’t kill them, their domestic lifestyle will: They don’t know how to forage and survive on their own when they’re raised in a home.”

By this point, Heather had become a true bird mom. There was no chance that she was going to give up on Bijoux. She went to the popular Lewiston Rocks Facebook page to inform the world about the missing bird.

You know the drill. A picture of the greenish, shy bird with all the pertinent information. A passionate appeal for help from anyone spotting the critter. Send your request for help out into the local world and hope that someone will come through.

Someone came through.

When Heather opened Lewiston Rocks in hopes of a breakthrough, she found exactly what she had been praying for.

“If you’ve lost a bird,” said a post from a stranger, “we saw and tried to catch it near Acadia Academy. It flew off towards Pleasant …”

Off Heather went, out the door and to Pleasant Street where she resumed making bird calls and calling for Bijoux.

While Heather searched Pleasant Street, Bijoux was just down the road a whistle, making his presence known at Acadia Academy on Westminster Street. One woman reported that Bijoux has almost landed on her shoulder at the school, even.

This was a bird who wanted to come home.

Then Bijoux alighted on the school door and got the attention of teacher Heather McGraw, whose quick thinking would save the day. With the help of a co-worker, McGraw scooted back into the classroom and came back with a portable butterfly habitat and soon Bijoux was in safe hands.

Heather’s miracle was coming to fruition. The problem was, she didn’t know it just yet.

“Heather is still out searching at this time, calling desperately,” Lagasse said. “What she doesn’t know is that a community has come together. Word is out, there’s chatter on the internet and at the Acadia School, a tired, hungry, confused bird is wondering where his next meal is going to come from.”

The good news came from Lewiston’s animal control officer, Chris Sanders, who was enlisted to return the bird to its proper home.

When Heather came to pick up Bijoux, she was, naturally, ecstatic.

“She gave me big hugs,” Sanders said.

Lagasse, who admits that he was close to giving up all hope on Bijoux’s return, remains agog.

“The sheer statistical improbability of the whole thing just blows my mind,” he said. “If Bijoux had escaped a month ago, when temperatures were chillier, he would be gone. If he had encountered a predator, he would be gone. If we were living out in the wilderness and not in a community of people, he would be gone.”

And of course, he understands that it was only through the empathy and generosity of the strangers around him that this story was brought to a joyful conclusion.

“The kindness of people in this community is staggering sometimes,” Lagasse said. “It’s humbling. You hear all kinds of negative crap about Lewiston, and, yeah, we’ve got issues. But we’ve also got each other’s backs.”

“Periodically I need my faith in humanity restored, and it was restored yesterday,” Lagasse said at the time. “Heather bought a huge bouquet of flowers and treats and brought it to the school as a thank-you to the wonderful teachers who made such an effort in grabbing our little bird. I wish we could give them more than just bouquets and candy. Thanks to them, and the person who posted to Lewiston Rocks, our family is whole again. Somehow, some way.”

Jones, who has been a teacher most of her life, finds it beautifully ironic that Bijoux landed at a school when it was time to come home.

“It was such a fairy tale ending,” she says. “I’ve been teaching my whole life so the fact that he was rescued by teachers and students was just kind of sweet to me.”

And that celebrated bird? Do you suppose he’s blissful to be home after his brush with the wild?

Well, the little peeper has been feasting on his favorite foods — watermelon and strawberries — according to Jones, so there are no signs the bird will be tempted again by the great outdoors.

“Bijoux was very hungry and tired when he got home, but also very happy,” said Lagasse. “You can tell by the way he twitches his tail feathers.”

Mark LaFlamme is an award-winning Sun Journal reporter and columnist. He’s covered the nighttime police beat since 1994.