Nine short chapter books, p.1
Nine Short Chapter Books, page 1
Front Cover Painting by Tapas Guha
Created under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence International,
Donor/Funder Pratham Books
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Text copyright 2018©Gita V. Reddy
All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
COPYRIGHT
The Homeless Birds was first published as an ebook in January, 2016
©2016 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
Krishta, Daughter of Martev was first published as an ebook in January, 2014
©2014 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
Knife and Fork was first published as an ebook in February, 2016
©2016 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
Daksha the Medicine Girl was first published as an ebook in February, 2014
©2014 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
Make a Wish was first published as an ebook in March, 2016
©2016 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
The Missing Girl was first published as an ebook in July, 2013
©2013 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
The Magician’s Turban was first published as an ebook in
©2012 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
The Forbidden Forest was first published as an ebook in January, 2014
©2014 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
Dearie was first published as an ebook in January, 2014
©2014 Gita V. Reddy; All Rights Reserved.
~~~~***~~~~***~~~***~~~~
Dedicated to my parents,
Sri Yog Prakash Datta and Smt. Santosh Datta,
to my parents-in-law,
Sri K. Vittal Reddy and Smt. Ganga Devi,
and to my husband,
Prof. K. Venu Gopal Reddy.
~~~~***~~~~***~~~***~~~~
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE HOMELESS BIRDS
THE MAGICIAN’S TURBAN
KNIFE AND FORK
DAKSHA THE MEDICINE GIRL
MAKE A WISH
KRISHTA, DAUGHTER OF MARTEV
THE FORBIDDEN FOREST
DEARIE
THE MISSING GIRL
About the Author
THE HOMELESS BIRDS
All living creatures need one another
even though the connection is not clear.
It is said, ‘When one tugs at a single
thing in nature, he finds it attached to
the rest of the world.’
Chapter 1: Midnight Visitor
Ranjan’s mother came in to check on him. “Why aren’t you asleep? Stop reading that book. It’s well past your bedtime.”
“I’m not sleepy at all.”
“If you lie down and close your eyes, you will fall asleep in no time!” His mother took the book from him and waited until he got into bed. She covered him with a soft blanket and wished him goodnight.
Ranjan was not sleepy because he had spent the day in bed. A bad cold had kept him at home, and he had slept for hours because of the cold medication.
After his mother left the room, Ranjan closed his eyes. He kept them shut for a long time. Or so he thought. The Grandfather Clock in the living room struck the hour. He counted the strokes. It was only ten o’clock!
To while away the time, he tried making shadow figures with his hands. But the images were hazy in the dim light of the night lamp.
He looked around for something to do. The last time his cousins were visiting, they had draped the bedposts with a sheet. For one afternoon, the bed was their boat, and they were pirates. But he was alone now, and a make-believe voyage was no fun without company.
Once again, he closed his eyes. He tried counting sheep, but he had never seen a sheep and found it difficult to imagine a herd of sheep. He sat up again and played video games. When the clock struck the midnight hour, he was still awake.
A sound came from the garden. Ranjan scrambled out of bed and ran to the window. There was a huge bird in the garden. His mother had placed a tub below the leaking water tap. The bird was drinking from it.
Ranjan rubbed his eyes. Was it really a bird? Or was he dreaming? He pinched his arm and cried out softly when it hurt.
The enormous bird looked up. Ranjan held its gaze. When it didn’t look away, he leaned over the windowsill and spoke to it in a soft voice. “Come here!”
The bird took a step back and opened its wings. Its wings were bigger than the garden umbrella they sometimes used. The bird was also taller than Ranjan. Ranjan was eight but tall for his age.
The bird’s size did not scare Ranjan because he could tell the bird was scared of him! It kept jerking back its head and looked ready to fly away.
“Don’t be scared! Don’t fly away! I won’t harm you. I can’t harm you, can I? You are so much bigger than I am.”
The bird folded its wings but stayed where it was. “Will you not be my friend?” Ranjan asked. “You are big and strong, but you’re nice. I once saw a falcon. It looked so fierce that it scared me to go near it. I very much want you to be my friend. Please don’t fly away.”
Ranjan kept talking in a soft and gentle voice. Slowly, the bird came closer. Its feathers were white and silver, and its eyes were red. They shone as brilliantly as the rubies in the idol at the temple.
Ranjan was thrilled. He had never seen any creature as magnificent as the bird. “I wonder what kind of bird you are!” he said.
“I am Vajra.”
Ranjan looked around. Where had that throaty voice come from?
“My name is Vajra.”
The bird was talking! How was that possible? Was he dreaming? About to pinch himself again, he stopped. His arm was still burning from the earlier pinch.
“May I come in?” Vajra asked.
“Can you come in through the window? I can’t open the front door.”
“I can if you move back.”
Vajra came in long neck first. When he started to open his wings, Ranjan stopped him. “Don’t! You will knock something down. The sound might wake up my mother.”
“Your mother?” Vajra squeaked and ran to the window. He thrust his neck out. He was leaving!
Chapter 2: Terrace Meeting
Ranjan grabbed Vajra’s feet. “Don’t go! Please don’t go.”
Vajra came in but stayed close to the window. Ranjan shut the door. “There! Now my mother can’t come in. You have nothing to worry about.”
Vajra came further into the room. He was careful not to open his wings.
“My parents’ room is on the other side of the house. If we keep our voices low, they will not hear us.”
“Parents!” Once again, Vajra darted towards the window. He also kept moving his head from side to side.
Ranjan scrambled up a chair and flung his arms around Vajra’s neck. “Stop! My parents will not harm you! Nobody will harm you!”
Vajra slowly calmed down. “I am sorry. I panicked. I came inside because I thought you were alone. But your parents live here too. I must go. It is bad enough I spoke to you. I can’t let more people see me.”
“Vajra, you are safe.”
“There’s also another problem. The house looked big from the outside, but it’s quite small. I can’t spread my wings! I like to spread my wings.”
Ranjan guessed Vajra didn’t know that houses had rooms, and the inside was different from the outside. Was that why he was restless? He might feel better if he had enough space to flap his wings.
“We can go out into the garden or up on the terrace. I can’t open the front door, but if you stand beside the window, I can step down on your back.”
Vajra agreed. He went out the same way he had come in and stood close to the window. As soon as Ranjan landed on him, he rose. Ranjan jerked forward and tried to get a hold. The next moment, they were on the terrace. Ranjan slipped off his perch, and Vajra ran around the terrace, flapping his wings.
“That felt good!” he said, finally coming to a stop.
“Tell me who you are and from where you have come,” Ranjan asked, no longer able to hold back his questions.
Chapter 3: Lost and Alone
“Where do I start?” Vajra asked.
“Start from the beginning,” Ranjan said.
“That may be a good place. Hundreds of years ago, my ancestors lived in a king’s palace. They were royal pets. We believe that the first pair came from Fairy Land.”
Ranjan’s eyes grew round in astonishment. “Fairy Land?” he asked.
“That’s what they say.”
“Don’t you know for sure?”
“How can I? I’m only a young bird.”
That made sense. Ranjan didn’t know much about his ancestors, either.
“My ancestors were happy in the palace. The royal garden had tasty fruit, and the lake was stocked with fish. No one in the kingdom was allowed to hunt them or capture them. They were free to fly wherever they wished. They learned to speak the language of men. The royal family doted on them.”
“This must have been a long time ago. We have no kings now,” Ranjan said.
“I told you this was hundreds of years ago. In those days, there were many kings. It is said that they were always fighting with each other over silly things. Because of this, the people suffered and finally decided to get rid of them. At least, this happened to the king in whose palace my ancestors lived. The people attacked the palace and looted it. They killed the king and his family. They did not even spare his pets.”
“Do you mean they killed your ancestors?” Ranjan asked in a hushed voice.
“They killed them and they ate them. The few that escaped took shelter in the mountains. They stayed away from human beings but taught their children human speech.”
“Why didn’t they go back to Fairy Land?”
“I don’t know. I am a very young bird. I think they did not know how to go to Fairy Land. They were born in the palace, you see.”
“How did you come into my garden?” Ranjan asked.
“I came with my flock to the hills beside the town. We came looking for food.”
“You came with your flock? Is it outside the garden?” Ranjan asked, eager to see a flock of such majestic birds.
Vajra looked sad as he shook his head. “I’m alone. I slipped away when my mother was not looking. I wanted to have an adventure. I thought it would be wonderful to see how human beings lived. But as soon as I entered the town, a group of people tried to catch me. I escaped and found a hiding place. I hid throughout the night and the day. When it grew dark again, I wanted to fly to the hills and look for the flock, but I was hungry and thirsty. There was no one on your street and in your garden. I came in and ate your fruit.”
“You’re welcome to it,” Ranjan said. “What will you do now?”
“I don’t know what I will do. I am sure the flock must have left without me. They do not stay close to towns for long.”
“You can fly home. Are you a very young bird? Are you scared to travel alone?”
“I’m not scared! But I can’t fly alone. I have not yet learned to fly by direction. My home is to the northeast, but I can’t keep track of which way northeast lies.”
Ranjan couldn’t believe his ears. Were birds not born with the knowledge about direction? Didn’t they travel across oceans to faraway lands?
Chapter 4: Help Me!
Ranjan knew how to locate the North Star. You did that by finding the Pointer Stars in the Big Dipper. However, he did not know how to locate other stars or directions.
Neither did Vajra. He had not paid attention during lessons. While his friends practiced telling direction by the sun, the stars, and the wind, he had fun walking upside down under cliffs. His mother never let him fly on his own, and when he flew with the flock, he stayed on the outer tip of the group and followed the others.
“I have been foolish. How will I get back home?” he said, and tears came into his eyes, making them brighter.
Ranjan didn’t know how to make him feel better except to repeat that the flock would come looking for him. “You can stay with me until they come for you. You will be safe,” he added. Then he had an idea. “Vajra, you can use my compass to fly northeast.”
“What is a compass?”
Ranjan explained what a compass was.
Vajra was excited. But he looked sad again. “It won’t work. I will have to hold the compass with my toes or my beak. How will I look at it while flying?”
“There is nothing else we can do. You must stay with me. But I'll have to tell my mother about you because you're too big to hide.”
“Please don’t tell your mother or anyone else. I’ll look for a hiding place before daylight. There must be someplace where human beings can’t find me.”
“Vajra, hiding will not solve your problem. If you hide, how will the flock find you? You must try to fly back home.”
“Why don’t you come with me? You can look at the compass and guide me in the right direction,” Vajra asked.
Ranjan was stunned by the strange request. He also saw a problem. “How will I come back?” he asked.
“My mother will fly you back. If we start immediately, you will be home before sunrise. Please say yes! Please!” Vajra begged, jerking his head up and down.
"I can't. My parents won't let me go with you."
"You don't have to tell them! Please help me!"
Ranjan wanted to go. He would help poor Vajra and would also have a grand adventure. It was wrong to leave without telling his parents, but if he asked, would they let him fly away on a bird?
He thought not.
“I’ll come,” he said.
Vajra was so happy that he gave him a playful nip on the shoulder. They went down, and Vajra helped Ranjan into the room. Ranjan took the compass. Luckily, it had a long chain. He slipped it over his head. He put on his windcheater because the night was cold, and wore his shoes. Even though he was quick, Vajra was hopping from one foot to the other, impatient to take off.
“Vajra, please stand still so that I may sit on you!” Ranjan said.
“Which direction is northeast?” Vajra asked.
Ranjan used his compass to find out. Immediately, Vajra started flying. In no time, they were soaring over the tallest building in the town.
Chapter 5: The Homeless Birds
Ranjan shut his eyes and gripped Vajra as tightly as he could. When he felt they were losing height, he opened an eye. Were they crashing down? He saw a tall tree swaying gently in the breeze. Vajra was going to land on the tree! Oh no! They were going to crash! Vajra must weigh a ton; the tree couldn't possibly take their weight!
Vajra flew down to the topmost branch. “Let go of my neck!” he croaked. "You are strangling me!"
Ranjan released his hold. The branch swayed. So did they. Ranjan broke into a sweat. If the branch snapped, they would fall to the ground far below.
Vajra twisted his neck to look at Ranjan. “Your windcheater is slowing me down. It's trapping air."
Ranjan unzipped the windcheater and flung his arms around Vajra's neck.
"Don't do that. Just move a little lower and hold the feathers on my neck."
"I'll fall if I don't hold on to you!"
"You won't. You will be safe. Don't worry about the cold either. My feathers will keep you warm."
Ranjan did not argue. He wanted Vajra to fly before they fell off the tree.
Soon they were flying again. Ranjan now felt bold enough to keep his eyes open. The town lights glittered below, stars twinkled in the sky, and the moon looked on with its silver face. All was still except for the tall trees that swayed in the breeze. They looked like giant creatures, waving their many arms and heads.
Ranjan also checked the compass to make sure Vajra was flying in the right direction. No longer afraid of falling, he started enjoying his adventure as Vajra flew over towns and vast spaces before coming down to rest on a rocky hill. “We’re going in the right direction. The flock had stopped here to rest when we flew to your town. We'll also spend a few minutes here. It won't do to get tired while flying. Mother always says it is better to take small breaks during a flight."
Ranjan sat down against a rock and gazed at the distant mountains. Their snowy peaks were bright in the moonlight. "I love being outdoors. Nature is so beautiful! I love looking at trees and rivers and mountains."
“You do?" Vajra asked, sounding surprised. "I always thought human beings don't care about such things. That they take pleasure in ruining nature. I heard they even chop down green trees.”
“Some people do that, but most of us like to go on picnics and holidays to places where we can enjoy nature.”
“Do you know, Ranjan, our flock has no home? We haven’t had a home for many years.”
“Where are we going, then? You said we were going to your home.”
“I told you that people killed most of my ancestors in the king’s palace. The few who escaped flew to the mountains. They found a green valley with a lake and made it their home. The valley was green, and they had plenty of food and water.”
“It sounds beautiful,” Ranjan said, picturing a tree-filled valley with beautiful birds like Vajra.
“I haven’t seen it. Some years before I was born, human beings built a dam in the mountains. The lake dried up. All the water animals perished. In place of green trees, thorny bushes and shrubs remained.”
