The Seven Coloured Bird

“The Seven Coloured Bird” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Akshara Kishore, The Horizon School, India.

The Seven Coloured Bird

On a beautiful Saturday morning, I was walking in my garden. Our garden is so lovely with lots of beautiful flowers and plants. While I was watering the plants, I heard a strange noise behind the bushes. First I thought of calling my mother. But when I looked from a distance, I saw a small bird lying on the grass. It was injured. I went near it and took it in my hands. It was a very small and had seven different coloured feathers. I took it to my room and treated its wounds. It was so beautiful that I wanted to keep it for myself. I named it Mia. After some weeks, Mia became strong. I enjoyed playing with her. Slowly she started to learn some words. When I came back home from school, she used to call me, “Akshara, Akshara.” She was like a new family member for us. Whenever I overslept, she used to wake me up.

One day my uncle came to my house from Japan. He told me that Mia belonged to an endangered species. That night, I overheard my uncle telling my mom that he will bring a cage the next day to take my Mia and hand her over to the zoo. I imagined my Mia locked up in a cage looking sad. I ran back to my room with tears in my eyes. I cried a lot not knowing what to do. How could my uncle be so cruel? He and my mom knew I loved Mia very much. I felt helpless. At midnight I slowly went to Mia’s bed. I gently took her in my hands and went to the terrace. Mia sensed my presence and opened her eyes. I hugged her and kissed her on her forehead. We sat there together for a while without making any noise. It was as though Mia understood my feelings. She cuddled close to me. Then I did something that I had never dreamt of doing. I made her fly away, far away to the world of freedom. With a heavy heart I looked at her flying away from me knowing that we would never forget each other. Let her live happily and peacefully somewhere…