Page 7 - My FlipBook

“The last buyer was a magician. He performed tricks on stage. He taught me to ride a small bicycle
and to pick a lock. He had designed a fire trick. He would throw a bird into fire and it would
magically reappear.
“When he bought me, he also had another parrot, Sheena. He wanted to train me to perform jointly
with Sheena. Sheena was doing the fire trick. During practice one afternoon, the escape door got stuck
and Sheena burnt to death. I saw it happen.
“The fire trick was very popular and the magician tried to train me for it but I was terrified. I refused
to leave the cage. He decided to starve me. It did not work. Then he brought a candle to my cage. He
meant to frighten me into obeying him but it scared me out of my mind. I started throwing myself
against the cage and flapping my wings. When I hurt my wing, he removed me from the cage. I was
limp with exhaustion. I was also ill. But not too ill to try to escape.
“He bound my feet with a thin wire and tied a thick string around my neck, with its other end knotted
to the window bar. It was a mistake to use the string but I’m glad he made it. I bit through the string. I
saw a covered van under the window. I squeezed through the narrow bars of the window and landed
on the roof of the van.
“The van stopped near your house. It was scorching hot on the roof. I was thirsty and ill, and faint
with hunger. I saw the guava tree in your garden and tried to fly to it but fell down. I think I fainted.
Did Robber find me?”

“Yes.”
“He would have eaten me to my tail feathers! You saved my life.”

Navjyot did not speak for some minutes. Then he said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”

“For what people have done to you. Shall I help you in returning to your birth-forest?”
“I don’t know. I’ll stay with you for some time. You must promise not to tell anyone I can speak.”

“I promise!” Navjyot said.

He understood why Rangeela did not want anyone to know. His experiences had made him fearful.
Navjyot kept his promise and Rangeela stayed with him for a long time. They became the best of
friends and had many wonderful adventures together.