complete...

Standing by the window, staring at the vastness of the sky, I felt a hand touch me. As I turned back, I saw a pair of eyes that instilled faith in me. A smile that drove away the wrinkles on my forehead. It was these things about him that ensured me.... he was mine. Ever since, the path of our lives have crossed, I have always felt complete.

I found him on the beach, 2 years back. He was wading into deeper waters and was too small to fight the waves. I was taking a leisurely stroll along the waters. He was alone. Nobody seemed to be having an eye on a boy as young as him. He barely looked like 6yr old. As I wondered what a child like him was doing in such deep waters and how could the parents be so careless, his bobbing head suddenly disappeared. Racing against the waves, I frantically searched for that tiny form of life. By the time I reached him, his head bobbed up again. Smiling, he said, he knew how to swim.

I found him every single evening after that day. First a few smiles, then a little ruffling of hair, then an enthusiastic wave from far off and then to waiting for each other to turn up, we had become friends...fast friends. I bought him something small everyday, may be a choclate or an ice gola. He never questioned me when I din't buy him anything.

He came alone everyday. Intrigued by the observation, I asked him the big 'why'.
" I stay in that house there. That aunty lets us go to play every evening, but she doesn't take us out. So, I jumped the gate to see what it is like outside." "Who stays with you at home?" I asked. "Oh! there a lot of friends and aunty." As I looked in the direction of his house, I could read just one word 'orphanage'. The whole world seemed to spin. The sound of the waves seemed to get louder. How could He do this to a child as adorable as this 6 yr old?

I had called him 'kiddo' from the very start and was surprised that I had never bothered to ask him his name.

"Kiddo! would you like to stay with me?"
" you mean..in your house?"
"yes!"
"forever?"
"forever."

I named kiddo, Aryan. He became my son officially this day, 2 years back. He is in class III, in the school nearby. We are celeberating his b'day today. Mom n Dad were upset that I had taken such a huge step without consulting them.... after all there was a society to answer to. A single mom was still not a very comfortable situation. It took them time to come to terms with their daughter's bold step. But they are here too.

I have given Aryan a family. But what Aryan has given me is inexplicable.


This is purely a work of imagination. So please don't ask me, if I actually have an Aryan!

Bird's view..

It is a pleasant afternoon. The sun is right overhead and shining bright and hard. But there are clouds to cover up, making the weather much more bearable. My search for some form of food in the morning was of no avail. Not a single fish jumped out of the water, not a single rat was slow for me to land my claws on it, not a snake, not a chick, not even worms... It was another of my sloppy days, when I reach the wrong place at the wrong time..or rather don't reach the right place at the right time. My mom always said there would be such days,only she din't tell me they would be so often!

My stomach is growling. I don't even remember the last meal I had. I have to find something to eat. There is no point perching up on such a high branch and wondering what to do. Just flying and hoping against hope, that my luck shines like the sun this afternoon, will be the best thing to do.

Ahh...this earth looks so beautiful from up here. It's a pity that those men down can't have a bird's view........ except when they fly in those bird-like machines that cuts birds as big as me into pieces. Well, even if they had wings of their own, they would have to be long ones to balance their bodies in air. Also, with such a size, and so many of them, the sky would not be enough to fly in!

Oh..there is my prey! After all the wait, I, finally, am going to have a delicious meal. Yummy little snake. Haven't had one for a while now. I knew my luck would shine today..nice n bright!! Ok..little one...here I come!!

I love tearing down the sky in speed, to catch my prey. When I waqs small and mom took me on training, she always told me that it was this part of catching the prey that determined whether I would be succesful or not. She always told me to tear down, fast enough to surprise the prey but not so fast as to catch the attention of the prey. I love doing this....to feel the breeze blowing across me as I fly down!

Oops!! What is this? It looks like a stone. Oh! these young ones of these men..... keep pelting stones at me. One day, I will have to pick one of them....just to teach them a lesson. Actually, I wonder what they would taste like! Well, I shall wonder later, let me avoid the stone. Uggghhhhhh....I am going to miss my little snake!

Hey, it hit me. And no, it isn't a stone. It doesn't look like one. And stones don't make me bleed so much. What is this? And what is that man holding in his claws? I remember seeing a similar one when mom swiveled down, the last day I ever saw her. Is it the same thing that hit mom?
Why am I falling? I can't flap anymore. My left wing hurts and I am bleeding. May be I should perch on one of these branches and take some rest. Where is the nearest branch? I can't see one. I can't see the man either. What is happening? The sun is appearing too bright. Where did the clouds go?

THUD!! I've hit something hard. Now my right wing and my whole body hurts. What is this squeezing my body so hard? Get off me! Leave me..I am in pain. Why isn't someone listening to me? Oh..it is a man's claw. It is coming towards me. What does it want from me? Why is the man looking at me? Mom said men hit birds. She din'yt say, they eat birds. R they going to eat me? Ahhh...I am feeling tired. I want to sleep. Mom, where are you? I am hungry and tired. I need some rest.

Mom...mom...mom...mom.....mooooommm.....mooooomm...mooom...mom.....