Thursday, 3 March 2016

Short Story: The Rare Magical Blue Robin



Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Abu. Abu lives in a small village called Kampung Gua, Malaysia. He was left by his parents at the age of five. An old childless couple took him in and fed him like their own. They raised him well although not in a luxurious way, taught him everything they knew and how to find money the Halal way. Abu was very obedient to his foster parents. Before reaching the age of 15, both of his foster parents died in a tragic car accident just outside the village, on their way to the nearby city to buy Abu new fancy clothes as a birthday present for his upcoming 15th birthday.

Abu was told by the policemen about the accident. He cried endlessly for days. He just stayed home, not doing anything, neither even eating nor sleeping. He just cried and prays for his love ones. He was too depressed to do anything besides that. After five days of grieving, he finally said to himself that he will not let his father and mother died in vain and start doing good deeds to help people in need. He wanted to repay his late foster parents' kindness by giving all he has to others.

Abu started finding money for his self by doing several of jobs at the village. He always helped people around him. Sometimes, some of the villagers even took him for granted because he was too kind and honest. Villagers grow fond of him for his act, making him popular. Some young villagers grown jealous of him and even tried to bring him down by bullying him but that doesn't stop Abu on bringing joy to others.

One day, on a fine evening. Abu decided to take a day off and spend the rest of his evening at Sungai Merah natural lake just beside Kampung Gua. Sungai Merah Lake was said to be two kilometers from the village. Not many people go there as it was said to be one of the most mysterious lake ever naturally created because some people heard that there live a group of giants who eat humans as their main dish. It was more than just a myth created by the villagers. Despite the tale, Abu still planned to visit Sungai Merah Lake to enjoy its beauty while relaxing under a big shady tree.
           
He walked pass the woody forest and finally arrived at the lake. As he looked upon the lake, he saw something splashing just above the surface of the lake. He quickly ran towards the lake to take a better look on what was going on. He saw a blue bird drowning; he quickly took off his shirt and jumped into the lake to save the bird. As he brought the bird to the surface, he checked on the bird whether it's still alive or not.

Abu was worried about the bird as the bird did not breathe for seconds after being brought to the surface. He tried applying pressure onto the bird's chest but it didn't work. Abu felt sorry for the bird. Abu was about to dig a hole to bury the bird but suddenly as he was digging, he heard the most beautiful chirp ever. He wondered where that sound coming from. He turned his face towards the bird and was stunned to see that the blue bird starting to move a little bit. He picked up the bird and stroked the bird's head gently saying "It's alright, don't be scared. I'm so glad that you're okay.", Abu smiled.

 He wrapped the bird using his shirt to dry off the bird and to avoid the bird freezing to death. The bird seemed quite happy to be around him. The bird didn't even try to fly away after being dried by Abu's shirt. Abu had a tiny conversation with the bird by asking a few questions. He was very shocked and amazed at the same time as the blue bird can understand what he said by giving signs like he asked to. Abu was very pleased by the bird's reaction. "Ah, I just noticed something. I think you're a Robin! No wonder I feel like seeing you before, only...why are you blue in colour? As far as I know, Robins are supposed to be black in colour." asked the puzzled Abu. 

The bird just remained quiet as to it doesn't know why. They interact with each other for hours until Abu realized that it was time for him to go home. He gave a pleasant farewell to the bird and started walking home. He arrived home at sunset. Without noticing, the bird followed him home. Quietly the bird sneaked into his house through the open windows. The bird was sad to see how he lives. He lives in poverty, only have money for food and other basic needs. The bird was determined to help him out financially in return for the bird's life. 
           
The bird builds a huge nest on a big shady Rambutan tree just outside his house. From that day forth, the bird lives there without Abu knowing about it. Every single day, the bird flew back and forth from the village to the nearby city to search for lost money on the streets. The bird was collecting money inside of its big nest. The piled up money becomes bigger and bigger every day.

One fine morning, the bird thought that it was time to give the money to Abu. The bird knocked the door using its beak. The bird waited for fifteen minutes for Abu but still he did not open the door. The bird guessed Abu must have left for work. The bird waited all day long for Abu to return home from work. The bird got curious and flew around the village to search for him. The bird searched for him high and low but he was nowhere to be seen. The bird got tired and stop onto a branch of a tree just beside a local stall. As the bird was catching its breath, the bird heard the villagers talking about Abu saying that earlier, a motorcyclist hit him badly and left him bleeding on the side of the road. Villagers found him, they called an ambulance and he was brought to the nearest hospital. 

Without further ado, the bird flew to the nearest hospital. The bird sneaked inside and found him in an ICU. His injuries was so bad, he suffered from broken bones and internal bleeding. The bird saw an old woman whom was a friend of Abu's late mother begged the doctor to proceed with the operation to save Abu’s life but the doctor deny the request as the cost of the operation was high and told the old woman that Abu has no savings or money. “Please! I beg of you! I’ll try and pay for the cost but first please save him.” cried the old woman. The doctor still considering whether to do the operation or not.

The bird heard everything and started transferring money founded from the nest, to the doctor’s office. Little by little the bird transfers the money. The doctor was shocked to see money being piled up on his office desk. He asked the old woman about the money, the woman said that she doesn’t know anything about it. After a while, he saw the blue bird bringing money in and placed it on the desk while he was sitting at the table. He asked the bird nicely about the money. The bird silently and slowly come near him and places its right foot onto Abu’s case file.

The doctor nodded and proceeds with the operation while the blue bird kept transferring the remaining. Abu was brought inside an operation room. After ten hours of saving Abu’s life, the doctor succeeds on keeping him alive. Abu was still in coma. The blue bird kept on finding money and brought it to the doctor. For months, the bird search and keep searching for money until the doctor said “That’s enough, you already paid the bills”. The bird still keeps finding lost money for Abu to survive financially. The bird didn’t even rest until one day Abu gained consciousness from the coma. Abu thanked the doctor but the doctor said “Don’t thank me, thank your little friend over there.” as he pointed to the restless little blue bird at the edge of his bed.

“Eh, blue bird? What are you doing here? I thought I’d never going to see you again.” He said. “Your friend here paid the bills already; you should really thank him for that. I’ll leave you two for now” smiled the doctor as he walked out of the ward room. The restless blue bird weakly came to him and sat on his palm. “Thank you so much. I have no idea how much trouble must I’ve caused you. You’re such a great friend” said Abu with teary eyes. After Abu said that, instantly the blue bird gave a last chirp and closes its eyes and started to glow and turned itself into a heavy gold. Abu was shocked and tears kept streaming down his face.


Abu cried and never wish this would happen to the little blue bird. There was a note below the heavy gold shaped bird saying “Abu, this is all I can offer in return of you saving my life. I’m sorry it must end up like this. I bit you farewell and I hope you’ll never starve again. Get well soon. Love, your blue Robin friend.”.

                                                                               Written by : Adriana Umran


             Truly sorry for any grammatical error in the story :) Happy reading!
 

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