I've Been Gone Too Long

Yesterday morning I heard a persistent, high-pitched beeping.

"Is an alarm going off?" I walked around the house, but the sound didn't seem to be coming from any of our appliances.

I sat back down on the sofa and continued reading. Still, I could hear the noise. It distracted me.

"Something's going off." I made another round of the house, even running downstairs to check the washing machine.

On my way through the kitchen, I opened the door to my deck on a whim. There it was -- the beeping! It was coming from outside. And it was...

...A bird.

You know you lived in China for too long when you think a bird's tweeting is an electrical appliance.