The Golden Astronaut

***DO you believe, in... Innocence? ***

"Bhaiya..."

"Uhh..?"

"What is that one called?"

Young eyes followed the chubby lil fingers, pointing at the night sky. The young head tilted a lil to its right, then to left... trying to get the alignment right.

"It’s Orion, the hunter. You see, those three stars are its belt..." a belt of dusty brown leather filled up the gaps in the boy's eyes, "...three faint ones below it are the hunting knife..." with a rust brown handle, in a black leather sheath, "...and that's where his head is", fingers made the outline of a rough triangle and imagination filled in the head with long hair tied with a brown headband.

"Looks more like a butterfly to me..." the lil girl said, too sure to be apologetic, yet... her eyes seeking confirmation in her brother's eyes.

The young boy looked at her sister, lying down on her back on the tiled roof. She had her head turned at an awkward angle to the right. He smiled and turned to look at the dots he had always connected to find the hunter, only this time choosing to look the way his lil sister had just taught him.

"You're right... it IS a butterfly... like you." he couldn't hide the amazement in his voice. She couldn't hide the joy of triumph in her laughter, she always wanted to be a butterfly. He turned to look at her, her eyes brighter than any star shined back at him. But they were extinguished by the furious noises coming from downstairs, mom and dad fighting, again. He knew they were heading for divorce, and this might be last time... he shrugged the thought away from his mind as he saw her eyes well up and her shiver in the cold of the winter night.

He crawled up to her, and threw his arms around her, and hugged her... real tight. He could feel the sobs aching to break out.

"You know why we can't see stars during the day?" he tried to distract her.

"Yes." she said, wiping away tears that never came, smiling.

"Tell me." he sounded a bit surprised.

"You know, how you pull back curtains to wake me up in the morning, because is difficult to sleep with light on your eyes? So, earth's bhaiya also puts a blanket over her eyes every evening so that his lil sister can go to sleep. But you know, the blanket has all those tiny holes in it. What we call stars, are nothing but light sneaking through those tiny little holes in the blanket called night."

He thought of correcting her, but her eyes shone with more stars than ever present in the night sky, making him doubt if he really knew better than her. So he turned his gaze back towards the night sky, trying to see it in a way he had never seen before.

Swoosh. A star shot by. Swoosh. Then another. A smug grin spread across boy's face and he turned to his sister, "So, what are the shooting stars then? Can the holes move?"

"They're the light of the day that sneaks in, disguised as fireflies." she said as if it was too obvious a fact to be even explained. The boy couldn't help smiling again. She had her eyes closed and hands clasped in a prayer, she was wishing on the shooting star.

"What are you wishing for?"

"I am not supposed to tell" she said, but her hand reached for his comforting touch. And when she clasped it tight, he knew she didn't want to go. He searched the sky, for another shooting star, so he could wish... wish that they won't be separated just coz mom and dad were, but he couldn't find one. Tears welled up in his eyes.

And before he knew, there was a storm of fireflies, sneaking into the blanket... a meteor shower. And in middle of it all, a comet with its icy blue tail trailing across the sky. She squealed in delight. She got up, standing on her toes, reaching for the comet, as if trying to catch it. And then, the tile under her left feet gave away.

The tile slid across the sloping roof and crashed into the concrete below. The little girl fell on her back and followed the tile. Rest of the tiles followed in succession, like feed mechanism of a machine gun, falling one after another.

The young boy's eyes clouded by fear and tears, his own screams seemed to come from too far away. He carefully went to the edge of the roof, peered down. She was staring back at him. Blood had started to spread out, staining her frock in a deep shade of crimson, it spread out on either sides of her, white tiles falling into the puddle. Through his clouded eyes, she looked like a butterfly, crimson butterfly with white dots on her wings. Her lips were moving, she had a smile on her face. He could hear her voice in his head, she was saying something, but he couldn't understand... except for one word...

"Butterfly"

*******

** DO you believe, in...Co-incidence? **

"Time to wake up."

"I want to sleep." I shut my eyes tight and sink back to my bed.

"No bhaiya, its time to go to work. You must get up." she pulls the curtain away from the windows. I look at her.

"You know what time it is?" her lips don't move, but I can hear it in my head. I look around. Am in my room, it’s bathed in a bright white light, so is she... so radiant. The room looks just the way it was when I...

A pungent light hits my eyes. I open my eyes, look around. Out of the circular window I can see the sun emerging from behind the outline of clouds hovering over Australia. I push myself to get out of bed and float to the ceiling. Someone looking in from the outside would say I fell down in slow motion. That's the thing about space, directions are so relative.

"Now that's like my bhaiya." The voice in my head says. I smile, can't help it.

I swim to the wash bay and stare myself at the mirror. Pick up the toothbrush and squeeze the paste a bit too strongly, it starts to float around. If I don't rush, it will start splitting like a unicellular life form. Thankfully, it comes to rest on the mirror, and before it can figure out which direction to take, and whether to split up or not, I scoop it up. As my brush races across my mouth, my mind tries outpacing it.

They say when people die, they... drift away. Free from bonds of flesh and gravity, they return to space... wander about like ghosts, waiting for a speck of cosmic dust to latch on to, so that they can become, a star. But they are lucky ones... most just float around in space, the vast nothingness. Some catch asteroids or meteors passing by, in hope they will carry them to a cloud of stardust. But most, just wander about in space. Space... you can call it the biggest graveyard... every thought imagined, every word spoken, every idea conceived and every soul born drifts in it, till eternity.. or till it fulfils its cosmic destiny.

"You missed a spot over there." her voice tells me.

I've been on space station for hundred and eight days, twenty three hours, and sixteen minutes... forty two of those days all alone by myself, and counting. I am supposed to tell mission control about voice in my head when I give my daily report. But she tells me I don't need to. I listen to her, coz she's always right.

It was on eighth day alone I first heard her. "Butterfly".

There was a small rupture in the oxygen tank on East wing Level 2, too small to be detected by high precision sensors. Four useless hours spent in trying to locate the source of leak was driving me to the brink of insanity. It was then that I heard her voice, saying it ever so softly in my head... "Butterfly", still it seemed to have some external spatial origin. I followed the voice and it led me to the leak.

Being alone, many times I've found myself facing situations I wasn't prepared for, that being part of the experiment. Each time, she's helped me. Many times she's given me advice that seemed illogical, irrational... even life threatening. Each time, I've followed her against my own wishes. And every single time, she's been right.



But all that, is about to change today... or is it?

*******

* DO you believe, in... Destiny? *

"Don't be afraid. Everything will be alright. Trust me." she says.

I take a deep breath.

Few hours ago an asteroid shower damaged a major part of the thrust boosters on the right wing, in fact severing one of it from the main body of the station. I had instructions to fire those very boosters to steer clear of the shower's path, but she told me not to. Minutes later a huge rock went past where the station would have been if the booster had fired. Now it was upto me to spacewalk to retrieve the booster and plug it back in before the next shower came, else years and years of hard work put by many will be lost in a moment.

As I put on the suit, I don't feel its weight, maybe too tense and scared. I check the cord, it’s secure. I open the exit hatch, and jump out into the space. I fire the jetpack to steer myself towards the boosters. As I move away from the station, I suddenly realize, it looks like a giant butterfly in the sky. I reach for the boosters, inches away from it, when am suddenly pulled back.

"The station doesn't want you to let go, its pulling you back" she tells me. The chord is too short, the booster has drifted too far away. I am sweating now. "You must let go, it’s the only way."

I see in the distance, a big rock approaching, and a trail of asteroids in its wake.

"Don't be afraid. Everything will be alright. Trust me." she tells me.

I take a deep breath and severe the chord, it stands still for a few moments, as if waiting for me to reconsider my decision, and then pulls away. I fire the jetpacks to reach for the booster. A small blinking yellow meter tells me I don't have enough fuel left in the jetpack. I don't know what to do, so she tells me what to do. I relay a message to mission control, explaining what I am going to do and then disconnect.


I maneuver to the booster. From behind the booster I can see the robotic arm on the right wing, ready to 'catch' the booster, all I have to do is steer the booster towards it. I rest my feet on the booster, bend my knees and push the buttons to fire the jetpack at full throttle... exhausting all its fuel in one go.

What happens when you die in space? Arthur C Clarke once pondered over that question... rather over ghosts of astronauts who die in space. But he never had the perspective I had. I see the booster tumbling towards the robotic arm, ready to catch it. Newton's third law, pushes me further away, right into the path of the big rock. I am going to die.

It is then that I heard her whisper in my head, clearer than ever before... "Butterfly". And it is then, that I see her.

It isn't just a big asteroid, it is a comet, with an icy blue tail. My jetpack runs out of fuel, not that it matters. I stare into the comet, heading right for me. The sounds of boosters firing tells me space station is already steering clear of it.

Blinding white light is reflected off the face of my helmet and am back at the roof, staring down at my sister. This time... I can hear what she is saying.

"I wished for us to be together, always. I wished, to go to a world, where none would take me away from you. I wished, to be a butterfly. I am going, in search of such a world. And one day, I shall come back to take you with me. Remember me, whenever you see a butterfly."

And suddenly the crimson wings catch fire... and she rises up in the air, wings of fire. She herself radiates white fire, and as she flies an icy blue trail behind her.

She is rushing towards me.

The spacesuit begins to cackle and tear away... the helmet melts away... like cocoon, a pupa.

Fire rages through me as my back arches and all of me is set ablaze.

She comes and hugs me.

I feel pain, no more for I am fire itself.

A butterfly with wings of golden fire.

Red rocks whiz past us, like cosmic rose petals, falling down to earth.


Somewhere on earth, a young pair of siblings stares at the cosmic fireworks. A lil girl notices a pair of fiery butterflies in the sky, ephemeral. And when they're gone, she can see a new star near head of Orion, the hunter, and she squeals with delight as she realizes... it’s not a hunter at all, but a butterfly.

DO you believe, in... Anything?

The Yellow Balloon

The Yellow Balloon

a.k.a.
The Sleeping Buddha

Author's Note: This story was inspired by the title... I've had the title with me for over three months now alongwith the prologue. This was written after a long night in office, to relax. No doubt, was rather shaky and sleepy when wrote it... some part could've been written better, but once I reached the end, I was refreshed enough to work for next 24 hours. Hope you too feel the way I did by the time you reach The End... and if yoy do, you'll know THIS is the only way this should have been written.



[ PROLOGUE ]


Hesitantly, and very slowly, pair of bright lil eyes open and peek from beneath the covers. They take a while to adjust to the light in the room and blink once. The crayon sketches on the wall come a bit into focus. They blink again as they search for something in the colorful little room, the calendar. They follow a trail of red 'X's and rest at the big red 'O' right next to the last 'X'. Suddenly clarity rushes in and a pair of lil feet jump out of the bed and onto the floor, mimicking the heart trying to race away from the grasp of a fragile ribcage. The soft pitter-patter of lil naked feet follows the trail of the lil boy in his pajamas as he runs across the small hallway into the master bedroom, the door is ajar. Pair of eyes, as clear and charming as a vanilla sky reflect the sliver of darkness beyond the door. Suddenly, maybe responding to the whining of feet fighting a losing battle with cold floor, right hand pushes the door open.

The window curtain is slightly off and a solitary streak of silver cuts her into half. She stirs and her left cheek catches some moonlight. The bright lil eyes stare at the angelic face, then at the clock on the wall, time of morning when both hands combine to form one long hand, and then again at the signs of sun about to wake up from its dreamy eyed slumber in the eastern window. As if to help him with his quandary, she curls up a little, with exactly enough space between her chin and knees for him to fit into. He walks up to the bed, rests his chin on its edge and smiles. He takes in the most beautiful sight in the world... the calm bliss on his Momma’s face. He pulls himself up and snuggles into her arms. Momma takes the lil boy in as if she was waiting for him all along. Five minutes ago he was too perked up and excited about the day to even blink for too long. Five minutes later he is sleeping as if he never wants to wake up again.

******

She wakes up, her arm and bosom warmer than it normally is and they smell different from the perfume she had on her when she went to sleep. A giant invisible hand seems to squeeze her brain, limiting the room for any comprehension that may creep in. But moist footprints left by lil warm feet on cold floor wrings that hand away and warmth fills her body like hot chocolate... and nose too. She follows the aroma as if under a spell. A quick glance at wall clock tells her its just 7:30am, has slept for measly three hours, but even that doesn't weigh on her much. Once she reaches the kitchen, a gasp sprints up and her hand is a bit too late to stop it from escaping. On the dining table are two butter toasts, a pair of boiled eggs and a steaming cup of hot chocolate. And right next to them, a bowl of cereal with only a few cereals left in the milk, which are scooped up by the spoon and gobbled up by a lil mouth. Suddenly, aware of her presence, the lil boy puts the spoon down, looks up at her and smiles. She tries to decipher the smile, angelic, they always are, but they’re more than that. An expectant smile, smile of an obedient child who has not put a wrong foot for weeks and finally day he reaps his rewards has come.

"Oh my God! I totally forgot." she gasps again as realization dawns on her.

The smile still remains, but the light in the eyes begins to flicker out. It doesn't take her a moment to decipher what it means.

"Oh no baby, don’t be sad. Momma promised you and she will keep her promise, this time nothing comes before you." she says as she lifts him form the chair and holds him close to her. Tears streak down her face and wet his right shoulder.

She spends the next half an hour making a few calls, taking shower and then making up and dressing for the big day. She doesn't need to dress up, but she knows her lil boy loves to watch her get all decked up. And she absolutely loves the look of reverence in his eyes when she is all dressed up... like a Barbie doll... though mostly it makes her very sad, afraid how much more time she has before he finds out that... but no, no time for such thoughts. Right now she is dressing up, not for work, not for herself either... but for her solitary source of joy, her beacon. It’s the least she could do for him... more so today... maybe the only thing she can...

[ The Yellow Balloon ]

He sits on the bench, his legs dangling down, and looks around. This is what he loves about town fair. Lots of people, colors, sights and sounds. He looks around, trying to figure out how to best spend the money Momma gave to him before she went.

She got a call from work when they were about to leave. She had his head resting on her right shoulder and her cell phone clutched between her left one and head during most of the walk to the fair. Then that uncle came to meet her, he didn't like that uncle, yet he couldn't tell Momma not to go with him. No, he was a brave kid, not afraid to be alone... at least not for long. Besides, he knew Momma would come back, for he was all she had, just as she was all he had... she loved him as much as he loved her, if not more.

It was not so long time ago. And the sights and sounds of the fair kept him busy. He loved the different colorful cutouts put up by the outside different tents, loved the lights on the merry-go-round. Then he sees her, the little girl with the yellow balloon. Most of the kids around, crying or whining, but she... blissfully playing with the yellow balloon. Once she catches his eye, he smiles, she smiles back. He knows what he wants... a yellow balloon. For his Momma, so that she can also be as happy as that little girl.

He stands on the bench, looks around. He spots a few colorful blobs in the distance, red blue green orange... but none yellow. Finally he spots a yellow one too. Gingerly, gets off the bench and carves his path amongst a sea of legs and reaches the balloon seller.

"What do you want?" he asks.

The lil boy points at the yellow balloon.

"This one?" he plucks at the string of the blue one. The lil boy rotates his head left to right and then back again a couple of times and points a lil to the right of blue one.

"This?" but he doesn't wait for answer. The boy's face lights up and he knows he wants the yellow one.

The lil boy hands out the money to the balloon man, takes the yellow balloon and runs back towards the bench, where Momma is standing, talking to another uncle. She doesn't look to happy. He smiles, knows what will make her happy and runs towards her, unaware of outstretched hand of the balloon seller trying to give him change. He sees Momma, she looks a lil anxious as she looks around, at her watch and starts to move away from the bench.

The lil boy breaks into a sprint, eyes a lil wider, if it were possible for his eyes to be wider and bigger than they already were, from worry. He watches Momma go away from him. He runs faster, yet she seems to be moving away. He runs faster, but his feet can't catch up with his mind or heartbeat and he trips. His chin hits the dusty ground, hand lets go of the string.

His vision gets clouded, but not a single tear escapes, he is a strong boy. His Momma is lost in sea of people. He looks up, the yellow balloon flies away from him. He bites his lower lip, gets up and dusts off his clothes. He doesn't like to get his clothes dirty coz Momma has tough time to wash them. He walks upto the bench and climbs it again. He looks upwards, squinting against the sun, his yellow balloon a mere speck. He watches it till it disappears into the sky. Then he looks around. No other yellow balloon. He consoles himself by saying he didn't even have money either. Suddenly the fair feels too crowded, too noisy, and he wants to get away from it.

He gets off the bench and runs to the nearest exit and sits away from it all in the grass, and starts to cry.




"Hello. Why are you so blue?"

He looks around, can't see anyone.

"Tsk... over here."

And there it is, a Yellow Balloon. Not his, but the one that the lil girl was carrying, only it had a pair of eyes, small nose and a mouth too... all yellow, of course.

"You can talk?" the boy said, almost surprised to hear his own voice... he had never spoken a word before, which worried his Momma too.

"Of course I can"

"Are you a magical balloon?"

"Why? Just coz I can talk?"

"Yes. Balloons can't talk. No one ever heard of a talking balloon."

"Well, then you must be magical too."

"Why?"

"Because you can hear me talking. We balloons can talk, all the time, but no one listens. All they ever hear is the hiss sound and they think we're leaking. Pffft... Humans."

The boy thinks about it. Even he never talks to anyone, but his Momma. Momma. He starts to cry, rather sob.

"Why are you sad?"

"I lost my balloon." he lies.

"Maybe you didn't lose it, it went away coz you didn't treat it well. Maybe it wanted to be lost. Where did it get lost?"

"Means?"

"Like look at me. You saw the lil girl who was playing with me? She was nice. But she doesn't know how to play with balloons. She would hit me gently and throw me up in air. I would go up and then come back to her. She would hit me again, this time harder than before, but still gently enough. I went even higher, but still came back to her, coz she was a nice girl. But all balloons have a limit to how much they will take. If you hit them more strongly than they can take... they will go really high, catch the tails of some passing wind and then go away, never come back to you. So one has to be very careful with balloons. I kept explaining same to her, but she won't listen, too old to listen to what a balloon has to say, already has her mind made up about most things. So, she kept hitting me harder and harder, laughing and jumping with joy each time. I came back to her every single time, because she was a nice girl. But then she went too far, so I just caught some wind, bounced off a few people's head and got out of there. The trick is to know when to stop, or know the limits. There is only so much we balloons can take. Now, you can hear us, so I don't think it would have been problem with you. So, what happened? Was your balloon a dumb?"


Dumb... the word sounded familiar, isn't that what other kids used to call him and tease him?

"One who can't speak...?" The boy still had a confused, rather pained expression on his face. "Okay, tell me where did your balloon go?"

The boy points his finger towards heavens.

"Aha! That explains it. Don't worry about that one. They are the worst of the lot. Obnoxious. I mean, we all balloons have big heads full of air, in fact heads are all we have, but their heads are full of hot gas. Yep, nothing but hot gas in there which makes them very 'floaty'" The balloon twirls his string into a loop as he says the word floaty. "They think they're smarter than all other species. Well, in fact all we balloons think so, and in fact consider it beyond our dignity to talk to lesser species like humans and all who are too deaf to even listen to words of wisdom we have to offer, that's the main reason why you mostly don’t get to hear any balloon talking as it was decided during the... wait, am digressing here. Oh my folly, you don't even know the meaning of the word digressing..."

"I know what digressing means, don’t be so condescending."

"Oh my, you are a smart one. Well, all in all, don’t worry about that one. Eventually he will run out of gas and fall and be trampled and ground to dust. But you can't own me forever either. Even I will eventually wear out and lose all the air. That is the fate that awaits us all." A distant pensive shadow falls across the balloon's face. "Of course, when I deflate, they can inflate me again, but it won’t be me. I'll be part of the atmosphere, till someone breathes me in and I'll become part of him or her.. or it. That's why I said we're a higher species... the yellow skin is just temporary, it’s the air that truly defines us. We can become humans, animals, birds... anything and everything that can breathe... or we can be just part of atmosphere in our purest form, unlike any other being. And only the truly blessed ones, are breathed in by a human and breathed out into a rubbery skin..."

*******

"I found you!"

Just when boy has forgotten everything but joy of the moment, he hears a voice. He turns around.

It’s the lil girl. Her eyes are red and puffy and cheeks are full of stains running down them... she's been crying. Her expectant stares go from the lil boy to the yellow balloon.

The lil boy looks at the balloon, who nods and smiles at him. The lil boy gives the yellow balloon to the girl. The girl smiles and says thank you to him. She turns back to look at him once as she goes, then once more, and then again. The boy waves goodbye to them, both. The lil boy slowly walks past the crowd, which suddenly seems very quiet. He feels as if he is walking through a sea of mannequins. He still doesn't know the words to describe what he feels. But he doesn't need them. He walks to the bench, climbs and sits on top of it. Looks around, sea of mannequins, moving around. He waits for his Momma to come back, wonders if she will come back. He takes a deep breath, lies down and closes his eyes.

[ EPILOGUE ]

People just walk past the bench near the western exit of the fair. But a few stop for a few moments, to look at the lil boy sleeping on the bench. A calm and serene glow on his face. A few take pictures of him. Soon they would appear on postcards and websites, with the caption... The Sleeping Buddha. But if they really knew the truth, if they could hear the balloons talking, they would caption them...

The Yellow Balloon.

[ The End ]

The Mighty Oak and Lil Birdie

Mighty Oak and The Lil Birdie

Note: The first and third act are written by me. This story is my birthday gift to a lil sis of mine, The Lil Birdie. She has written the middle act, Lil Birdie's Tale.


Once upon a time there was a mighty oak, the mightiest and grandest of all oaks. He stood on the top of the highest cliff, right near its edge. He had seen the sun rise from behind the Misty Mountains more than anyone else. When the sun finally went to sleep in the valleys of the White Mountains, The Mighty Oak's shadow would extend all across the lands and just as sun said its final goodbye, the shadow almost touched the Misty Mountains. It was common tradition amongst flora and fauna of the land to rest for a minute under The Mighty Oak's shadow, that was the closest they could ever get to "touch" The Mighty Oak.

The Mighty Oak had survived the longest, darkest and coldest winter, the lone survivor. The winter had failed to break him, but it did manage to enclose the mighty heart of The Mighty Oak in a shell of frozen bark. Thousands of suns after that had tried and failed to thaw the Ice of Indifference. So, the Mighty Oak, who once welcomed all to rest on his branches and eat his fruits, won't let even a bird near. But then it all changed one dark and stormy night.

It was a dark and stormy night. Lightening was flashing all over the sky, but careful enough not to venture near The Mighty Oak, he wasn't kind to trespassers. He was sleeping, dreaming of times gone by when he suddenly woke up. A lil birdie had fallen right into his branches. He shook her off violently and the lil birdie fell near his feet. Enraged by the gall of the birdie, he raised his fist to squash the lil birdie when the lightening flashed again. The fist stopped inches away from the lil birdie.

"Oh!" The Mighty Oak gasped with amazement. In all his years he had never seen such a bird before, an unseen wonder. The Mighty Oak felt something stir within him, a feeling he hadn't felt ever since he was a young tree eager to explore the world around him. His father called that feeling the disease of The Wanderer. To him it was the sense of wonder that only a child can feel, an amazement experienced at discovery of something new. Yes, the lil birdie had made him feel like a child again. He gingerly picked up the lil birdie, made a clumsy nest with some of his "hair" and very gently lay her down. Then he brought his branches closer to shield her from the rain. The Mighty Oak didn't sleep that night. There were no witnesses, but if there had been, they would have wondered if The Mighty Oak was crying or was it just rain.



Next morning it weren't the first rays of morning sun, but musical chirping of the lil birdie that woke up The Mighty Oak. Its left wing was badly mangled and left knew was bent in a strange way. But looking at her singing merrily one could be easily fooled that mangled wing and bent knees are the way all birdies are supposed to be. If there was any pain the lil birdie showed no sign of it.

"Hello GrandP" sang the Lil Birdie as she noticed that the Mighty Oak had woken up.

The Mighty Oak let out a rumbling laughter that woke up one and all in the lands. Even the sun rose from behind Misty Mountains, rubbing his eyes, still groggy at having being woken up before his time. None had ever heard The Mighty Oak say a word, so the hefty laughter echoing across Misty Mountains and Valley of White Mountains made sure that flora and fauna of all ages and colours came to witness the miracle. However, once there, they were all wary of The Mighty Oak and just chose to sit in his shadow. As the last squirrel found its seat, after stepping on a toe and two, the lil birdie started to tell her tale as to how she ended up in The Mighty Oak's care on that stormy night, so far away from home.

*** Lil Birdie's Tale ***
written by
The Lil Birdie

The birdie began her tale from the days when she was nothing but a fur ball. She was born on a nest perched on top of an oriental wooden door with fine medieval carvings. The door was part of an old but sturdy house which was all she knew about the world. Then one day, some birds unlike her kinds build their nests in the same house and brought with them stories of far away lands, beyond seven seas and seven mountains- lush with greens- beatific, almost divine. With time the little birdie got bored of the place. The dark walls of the house which comforted her once now seemed depressing. The soft green moss which was creeping up the wall made her uncomfortable and scared her in the nights. Too much familiarity borne an unbearable desire of unfamiliarity. The only trees she knew were the slim eucalyptuses with their bark falling off every now and then. Her home was a little too safe for her liking.

After days of nesting in , hopping around she finally began with her flying lessons one day. After a particular nasty fall she almost stopped believing that she’d ever be able to fly . She gave herself one last chance , deciding to try for one final time. She hopped over the length of a dusty old table and jumped off it. Instead of keeping her eyes open, she kept them closed this time. She was losing height swiftly but a voice from somewhere inside her asked her to flap her wings fast and then to align the wings straight and soar. When she opened her eyes, she was flying.

Euphoria of her first flight raised her spirits and her tiny wings followed them, rising higher and higher and higher…until she reached the ceiling and could go no higher. She thought of the clear blue sky above the eucalyptus tress. The birds had told her that there were no ceilings out in the sky, she wanted to feel the sky, she wanted to reach the end of the sky .Her faith in herself returned, her desire to find her dream strengthened. She told everybody that she wanted fly over the seven seas and seven mountains to the lands beyond- to have dip in the Stream of Stories.

But they told her she was too young, she wasn’t yet prepared for such a long flight and a desolate journey. She needed to pass the Seasons of Skill and Winds of Wisdom before she could even think of making it there. Yet, that very night the birdie left her nest, bid a silent adieu to her kinds. She flew out in the cool navy blue sky in search of the stream of stories, curious and excited. Her adventure had begun.

The mighty oak sensed that the birdie was getting a little sad remembering her loved ones she left behind. He wobbled his head and his dishevelled leafy hair tickled the birdie. The birdie giggled, and returned back to her chirping once again.

She told them that in the coming days she passed so many seasons ….she saw the trees being showered with the heaven’s nectar, shed their skins and the glossy leaves as they grew old. Then the white coldness took every thing under its evil reign .She still survived despite having nothing to eat . The blizzards that brought along fierce winds threw her off course so many times. Yet she moved on. Slowly the cold began retreating and spring was abloom.

One day the sun got extremely fiery by the day and her tiny wings gave up. Tired and thirsty she halted inside a cave. After sometime she heard tap tap of a water droplet hitting some water reserve. She flew in dark, following the sound. And then she found a tiny puddle of sparkling water. She drank out of it and she was thrown into an mystifying realm. She kept on drinking, quenching her thirst. Though the physical thirst was quenched, the thirst for that magical realm increased with every drop she drank. She realized it was the realm of stories that she was transported to. Different stories of different travellers in search of the Stream of Stories unfolded in front of her one by one. Through the stories she came to know that she had to narrate her tale to the puddle for it to refill itself. She also came to know that the seventh river flowing beyond the seventh mountain was the Stream of Stories.

She just had the last part of the journey left to fulfil her dream. She immediately flew towards the last remaining mountain. She followed a tiny brook through the mountains, the valley, and the moors only to land up at the Mighty Oak’s care. There the rivulet vanished mysteriously leaving her without any sense of direction, of what she was supposed to do next.

“What do I do now GrandP?” The birdie asked the Mighty Oak.

*** End of Lil birdie's Tale ***

*** Lil Nut's Tale ***

For a moment all went still and silent, even the winds. Everyone present held their breath and had eyes fixed on the Mighty Oak, waiting for his response. Only sound that could be heard was of something dripping from one of the bigger knots on him, forming an ever expanding puddle around him. All waited for the Mighty Oak to say the words that never came. Soon they all started to disperse and get back to their normal lives, many debating amongst themselves what was it dripping from the big knot on the Mighty Oak. Most believed them to be the tears and the knot to be one of his eyes, though none was sure and none of them will ever know the truth. That was only for lil birdie to know, and the squirrel who was courageous enough to run up to where Mighty Oak's roots dug into the ground.

For a long time the knot continued to drip, the puddle as big as a pond now and only the lil birdie and the squirrel were in the middle of that island that was The Mighty Oak. The squirrel, who could neither talk or listen, made a small cosy hole in the ground and went to sleep. The lil birdie still had the same expression of awe and anticipation as the one when she had asked,

"What do I do know GrandP?"

"Once upon a time..." the lil birdie heard the wind whisper in her ears. It took her a while to realise it was The Mighty Oak talking, though it wasn't really his voice. It was as if she could hear his thoughts, or maybe she wanted him to answer so badly that she had started to imagine it all. But the lil birdie listened carefully, oblivious to everything else. "...there was a Lil Nut."



Ever since he was born, he had been hearing tales of distant lands beyond the seven seas and seven mountains. All he wanted to do was to be a traveller. Many a times he tried to roll off in his wanderings but always ended up in moss.

"You are a nut, if you were meant to travel you would have had wings, or even feet." his mother would say, as she scrubbed the mouldy green moss off him. But he never paid any heed. All that he wanted to do was fly across the seven seas and see the worlds no nut or oak had ever seen before. HE wanted to tell everyone stories of lands and places far far away, stories no one would believe in. His father got really worried when he didn't develop any roots even into his second birthday.

"Son, you are a little nut now. But a nut is not what you are meant to be. You are one day going to be a great oak. How great and mighty, is up to you. Don't envy the birds because they can fly across lands and oceans and skies. They are travellers across space. But you can be a great traveller across time. You can see things which many generations of these birds will never get to see, you can outlive the existence of many of them. Soon a time will come when only you shall know of them. You will tell stories of things you have seen and none shall believe you. But to do that you will have to be a strong oak. There are more ways to drink on Streams of Stories than the birds know of. Take roots my lil one, stand your ground, firmly. And one day you shall be a mighty oak, a traveller across time."

The lil nut smiled at these words and soon he had tiny little roots. As the roots dug deeper into ground, they found Streams of Forgotten stories, streams that only ran under the ground now. Soon the roots went farther and deeper than any others' had ever before and the lil nut grew to be a mighty and strong oak, spreading far more under the ground than above it.

As the oak grew, so did his thirst for stories. Afraid that he might drink all the seven rivers, gods decided to turn them all to ice. The coldest and longest winter ever engulfed the earth into a giant sheet of Ice. All the rivers froze. No tree or animal could survive for their was no water anywhere. Only the mighty oak, with his vast reach was able to find traces of water deep underground, where the frost of gods couldn't reach. But the cold did manage to reach beyond The Mighty Oak's bark, freezing the water within him. It was as if he had been stabbed with a thousand little knives. The Mighty Oak let out a mighty roar, a cry of anguish. The Mighty Oak was never heard again.

The rumble of that roar shook the heavens. Scared, and realising their folly, they relented and the winter came to an end. But the Stream of Stories was gone, frozen forever. Only a few brooks here and there searching for the Lost Stream of Stories were left, which most mistook to be the Seventh River, the Stream of Stories.

*** The Death of The Mighty Oak ***

Little drops of tears welled up in lil birdie's eyes. She had come so far, but all in vain.

"So GrandP, does it mean I travelled all the way in vain?" she said, crying, head buried in her wings. A small nut fell on her head and she looked up.

A magnificent sight beheld her. The Grand Old Mighty Oak was no longer there. Gone were the dry branches and wrinkled bark. There now stood the most magnificent Oak one had ever seen, though it looked less like an oak and more like...

"What are you?" said lil birdie, amazed.

The Mighty Oak had leaves and nuts of all colours, nuts that caught sunlight and let out little nut shaped rainbows. The knot which was "weeping" had opened up into a big heart shaped hole from which gushed forth a frothing river.

"The River of..." exclaimed the lil birdie.

The Mighty Oak smiled and nodded, and finally talked.

"Yes, the River of Stories, stories from lands that were once upon a time. Stories I had collected over all these ages. But there are many more to find, many more stories to tell. My father was right, I have travelled across time. But now, once again, I yearn to travel across far lands. I wish to be the lil nut again. Time has come for me to go, to sleep. But I want you to promise something, will you?"

The lil birdie nodded, without even knowing what she was going to promise.

"Take me with you, in search of stories, on travels across distant lands. I want to travel across space, and in return, I shall make you a traveller across time."

"But.." before lil birdie could say anything, the Mighty Oak pushed her away with a swift blow of his arm. The Mighty Oak doubled up, coughing a thousand nuts. The squirrel, who was sleeping till now, woke up to find himself in what he thought was heaven. The skin of the Mighty Oak started to crack and streaks of light shot forth. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and sound of exploding water. Even the sun had to shield his eyes as he felt like a pale shadow of himself. And then suddenly it went dark.

No one could see anything, just hear the distant sound of water rushing.

"Lookout, the sky is falling" said a lil chicken and covered his head.

Rest looked up and literally saw the sky coming down on them. All instinctively covered their heads with their arms and waited for world to end. The sound of falling sky got louder and fiercer. And then there was a huge...

SPLASH!

The Mighty Oak was all but gone, only bottom part of the trunk remained and it was spouting a steady stream of water, or stories as all those who were there and believers like to call them. That was the end of The Mighty Oak.

The Lil Birdie wasn't sure whether to feel glad at end of her journey or feel sad at her loss. And Mighty Oak had gone before explaining anything to her. That was when the squirrel ran upto her, holding a little nut. It was like any other nut, but was unlike all other nuts which were rainbow colored. The nut looked very much like...

"The Mighty Oak!” exclaimed the birdie. And suddenly she understood everything as she held him in her right wing. The birdie made a necklace using some of the bark from remains of the mighty oak, with the Lil Nut in the centre as a pendant and put it around her neck. As soon as she did, she felt a stronger beat in her heart. All others saw the lil birdie bathed in a glow not much different from one of The Mighty Oak.

The Lil Birdie flew off, the lil nut around her neck. A traveller across time, and a traveller across space, now together. The Lil Nut who was once a Mighty Oak gave the Lil Birdie the eternally long life to travel across time. The Lil Birdie gave the Lil Nut the wings to fly across space. To this day they travel in search of stories. They stop every now and then, to rest, and to share their stories with those who are Nuts enough to believe them.

And of course, they pay an occasional visit to their rainbow colored squirrel friend who can't talk or hear, but loves listening to their stories. After all, squirrels love nuts, of all kinds, don't they?

[ THE END ]