Fairuz Maliha Surma
“What if it could adjust with us,Mom? Why do you always complain? Please just for once, I want to touch her soft feathers. Please, Mom. Please!”
Little Emma was too innocent to understand the harsh reality of the world. She was the youngest family member of her family. She lived in an apartment with her father, mother, a sister, who was not much older than her, and her grandfather. Emma was always very cautious and organized about her lifestyle. Or else, it would have been very tough for a seventeen years old to maintain a full scholarship in her college, become one of the finest piano players in the town and above all, the most favorite amongst the family and neighbors. Everything about her seemed just perfect. Yet, she found it hard to get the permission from her parents to have a parakeet bird as her pet. However, her parents could not blow away the wish of their beloved daughter.
So, they decided that, on her eighteenth birthday, the father will gift her a parakeet. He first proposed her to have two birds together so that they could accompany each other.In reply, Emma said, “If I have two birds at a time, I won’t be able to love both of them equally, and I want no such thing.” Hence, her father, as promised bought her a very beautiful blue Parakeet.
“I’ll call her Hope. That sounds so perfect for her.”
“What type of name is that? Isn’t it more like a mere noun?” remarked her elder sister Emily.
“She might be a noun in your life, but she’s only a verb in mine. And I’m going to call her Hope. Few days later, when she’ll be able to talk, I’ll say, my Hope is speaking, or uttering my favorite words.” Replied Emma with a bright glare in her eyes.
Soon, Emma started to realize that Hope was not coping with them, more precisely, with her. She used to hand-feed her every day in the morning before going to college, she gave her bath in a tiny, cute tub during sunny days, placed a beautiful toy swing in her cage, and spent most of her time with Hope. Nonetheless, she realized the bird did not seem to be comfortable. She was not speaking, eating very little, and to all astonishment, she always used to sit in a particular corner of the cage. Emma’s heart seemed to shudder when she started to find the justification of her parent’s earlier statement of having a bird as a pet.
***
Two weeks later, she took a decision which shocked her whole family. She said that she was going to free the bird. Her sister, Emily opposed it by saying how much Emma was going to miss the presence of Hope in the house by freeing her. But something shook inside of Emma’s mind and she was determined about carrying out her decision. She made a beautiful necklace for Hope with beads and hung it around her neck and took her to the rooftop. She then opened her cage, took Hope in her palms and kissed her with a motherly affection. She looked at her while keeping the bird in her hand and said, “All I ever wanted was to be friends with you, to be a listener to your chirps, to make you listen my Piano in rainy nights, and mostly, wanted to have someone very close to myself. But you never saw me as your friend. You only saw me as your brute prisoner. Anyways, now I am setting you free. Do whatever you want to do and go wherever you wish. Just keep my necklace with you and remember, somewhere, someone loved you and still loves you.” Saying this, Emma let Hope fly. She stood under the big sky and saw her most favorite part of life going away from her. Soon,the shape became smaller and Hope started to get vanished within the sets of cloud.
That night, Emma received a mail from her college that she lost her scholarship due to the unsatisfactory result, for the following year. She spent the whole night burying her head inside of her pillows. The pillows turned to blue in color to her blurred eyes, but not the same kind of blue as Hope’s sweet appearance. She couldn’t say whether the tears were for her lost scholarship, or for the loss of her Hope.
The next morning, Emma was having her morning tea in the balcony and to her great surprise she saw Hope. She couldn’t believe her own eyes. She called Emily and the rest of her family. To everyone’s amazement, Hope took steps and entered the cage all by herself. Even though the door of the cage was kept open, she didn’t flee. Instead she sat on her swing, and for the very first time, everyone heard her chirping. She chirped Emma’s name. Emma could not resist her tears and the whole family became immensely delighted. Soon, Emma saw another bird, from the same flock of Hope’s arrived.Everyone, with their dumbfounded eyes saw the other bird also entered the cage and sat beside Hope. Emma named him Dream.
Now every morning, Hope and Dream fly together, spend the day flying in the sky and by the evening, they return to Emma. By now, Emma has regained her Scholarship once again.She spends her evening time with Hope and Dream. She feeds them, makes necklaces for them, and takes care of them dearly. Yet, sometimes, she gets jealous at Hope’s spending more time with Dream instead of Emma. Then again, she manages herself to see the reality. She let herself to be contented with whatever she has gotten as blessings.
Three months later, Hope and Dream had their very first baby. Hope laid 3 eggs,from which unfortunately, only one survived. Emma was probably happier than Hope about the presence of the baby. She named the baby Parakeet,“Life”.
Now Hope, Dream and Life live with her. They seem to be a happy family. Emma watches Hope feed Life food, adore her with her lips and when the chilly wind blows, Hope envelops Life inside her warm feather.
Emma still sometimes wonders what would happen if that day, she didn’t let Hope fly? Would Hope be ever like the way she is now? Would Emma be ever able to let Hope listen to her beautiful notes of Piano? Would she be able to know how to share and spread love? Would she be able to get three friends at a time where she only asked for one? She never gets her answers within herself.However, one thing she perfectly realizes, that is, whenever she looks at the Parakeet’s family, she sees Life is living with Hope and Dream. That one look, soothes all her sorrows and agonies within a minute. That’s what Emma lives for, that’s what WE live for.