When I opened my eyes from my sleep, I saw my pet bird’s eyes red and teary. Suddenly, the bird began to weep. Tears rolled down through its cheeks. My pet’s name was Tiki. ‘What could be the reason?’ I thought. Then, all of a sudden, it started speaking!
“Oh please help me!” My mouth flew open with my eyes big, in astonishment. I was speechless. “Why are you gazing at me as if I’m an alien, huh?” it said. I began, “I…I don’t think you are my pet Tiki. You must be a horrible creature’s spirit that has entered into my Tiki’s body. Please know this, I’m not your food okay? And even if you’re really honest about it, then how can you speak?!” I asked, as I stood dazed.
“Oh god! Calm down! Let me explain!” Tiki said exasperatedly. “Yesterday, when you went out to play, I quietly flew out of the house and…” “Stop!” I cut Tiki off, “How did you manage to get out of the cage?” I asked curiously.
“You kept the cage open, so I took a chance and flew to my hometown jungle because a bird came and told me that the big lizards have caged all the birds and made the jungle their home. So, I went to see the condition of the birds. I felt really grief-stricken to see my fellow birds caged and crying bitterly for freedom. I quietly flew out of the jungle without being seen. Then I thought, I need to make everyone free. I need help. So… can you…” Tiki hesitated, “Help the birds find their freedom?” she asked me, expecting a ‘yes’ from me.
After a moment of silence, I confidently said, “Yes, I can!” Tiki felt very ecstatic to hear this. She said, “You need to go to the Ghati Poorna for this, which is about 30 kilometres from here.” I glanced at her and said, “That is quite far. We will start our journey tomorrow. Aarnpurna will also come with me.”
On the very next day we started our journey. We went deep into the jungle and stopped to see the lizards. They were as big as wolves! I think they were Komodo dragon lizards. They had a dull grey colour body with red spots, big tail and sharp claws that made them look like the mighty beasts they truly are! And then we saw a small barren land between the forest where the caged birds were hung on the tree branches. We needed to come back with a plan.
