Pepper- A Heart Warming Story

It was a peaceful day, and the weather was nice and warm. I was looking outside my window, when I saw two birds in my dog’s shed. They were chirping and flapping their wings. Oh, how beautiful they were! With those dark black wings and a beautiful yellow beak. It was a once in a lifetime experience to see such beautiful birds which are so close! They were probably Mynahs. They were jumping on the shed, then chirping at something, and again jump on the wall. This continued for a lot of time. I kept observing them. But I was curious about at what they were chirping so loudly at. They were looking at my new cycle and chirping as if something was there. Eventually, their chirps got louder and I got more and more curious. But I dared not to move for I might scare the birds. Night fell, and all birds got to their homes. The two birds kept chirping. It got darker, and the two birds flew away to their homes. I waited for a long time expecting they will come again, but they had gone. I told my mother about what happened. She said, “Probably they must be making their nests over there! As you have not used your cycle yet because of lockdown, they must have thought of it to be a good place for them to live.” I nodded. “But why did they choose such a place? They must be knowing that a dog lives there. And why were they chirping loudly as if they were calling someone?” Mom thought for a while. “Probably their baby is in there! Go check your cycle!” I checked the seat, the handles, and all other parts- but I found nothing. Then, I took a torch and searched in the dog’s shed. But I found nothing in there. “Mom!” I called out. “I find nothing in there! The bird must have flown away.” I put my torch down. The light of the torch on the tyres of my cycle. Then what I saw almost made my jaw drop. A small, tiny fledging was sitting in between the rods of the front tyre! It was so tiny and cute, I barely noticed it! I then called mom. When mom saw the little bird, she said, “Such a tiny little bird! It has been dark and its parents must have gone away because birds can't see in the dark. We must help her!” So, I and dad made a little house for the bird using a left-over filter stand and a wire net. My mom put soft blankets and paper towels for the bird to feel cozy. Now, was the hardest task- to pick the little baby bird up and put it in its new little house without hurting it. I went near it and stroked it gently. But it flapped its wings and hopped as if it wanted to fly. Fledgings are young birds which have fully developed wings that are big enough for flight. But as you see, this fledging had not learnt to fly yet. Now, back to the story: We tried a lot of times, but the bird was not ready to come to us. Then, I had an idea. I kept some rice on my finger. At first, the bird was scared. But then, it slowly approached. And it started to eat the rice! I was so happy! Slowly, the bird started trusting us. Then, I slowly stroked the bird. It flapped its wings and jumped to a corner. I could see the poor bird’s shivers. And I knew I HAD to save the bird, because it won’t be able to survive the night because of hungry beasts like cats, who would definitely eat the bird. The only one night could decide the bird’s survival.  

Will I be able to save the little bird and keep it safe for the night? Stay tuned till the next part of my story which will be posted soon!