CHAPTER 8 : FLYING KINGDOM
The animal kingdom remained the same with the same old animals and the fierce looking and ruling savages. Each specie of animals had chosen its own world. The birds who in the past preferred to live on the ground with other animals, now choose tall trees as their own habitat and the firmament as their normal route. The danger posed by savages on the ground scared away the birds. The birds only visit the ground occasionally to have their meals. They fly through the sky enjoying the cold breeze of the sky. Every morning in the animal kingdom, the leaves and flowers welcomed the morning with their sparkling appearance. Butterflies with a variety of colours flying through the beautiful flowers and the saplings dancing gently in the cold morning breeze added to the morning glory. The impeccable state of the nature is adorable as always. The birds were the only creatures in the kingdom that enjoyed total freedom from any danger. The birds lived on a particular large tree which is probably the tallest in the kingdom with large branches, lots of nests hanged on the branches where their eggs were kept. All kinds of birds lived on this tree, living in perfect harmony. They all flew together forming a beautiful and colourful formation in the sky.
The most beautiful and magnificent birds are the peacocks. The gentlest ones are the doves while the main hunters among them are the hawks which include eagles, owls and other birds with long strong beaks and large wings which make them excellent flyers. The talkative birds were the parrots. The parrots are sometimes deceitful and tricky in dealing with other birds. The nightingales are the best singers among the birds with their lovely soprano voices. They filled the early morning with their melodies. The hawks were the only birds in the kingdom which regarded any tiny creature as their prey. They are the hunters who bring a greater proportion of the food. All the birds continued to enjoy their luxurious life on the large tree. The birds always had a ceremony in which every bird will display its talents and ample of food will be available. The Nightingales and the peacocks always stole the show. The Nightingales' melodies sent the birds to a fantasy world of sweetness and love. Any living creature passing by the large tree will feel touched by their songs. On a particular day, three hunters who were chasing after some zebras stopped under the tree. "Where is this magnificent melody coming from?" One of the hunters asked. "I think the voice is coming from the sky." "No, the person singing must be on top of this tree." "But I only see lots of birds on this tree." "Do you think that it is a bird that is singing? let's go up and confirm." They began climbing the tree with the aid of climbing equipment forgetting that they were hunting after some zebras. On reaching the top of the tree, they saw a mass of birds. They noticed a small beautiful bird singing. The joyous birds were completely frightened by these intruders and they all scattered and flew away from the tree. In the process, some of the birds used their wings to hit the hunters which nearly made them to fall down from the tree. They managed to regain their balance and they quickly used their climbing equipment to climb down. "Hey! These birds almost fell us down from the tree...Bob we are lucky." "I will make sure I get hold of that little bird, it will be a nice pet." Bob said excitedly. " it must be a nice and lovely singing bird." Bob and his friends agreed that whenever they come across this bird they will capture it.
The birds returned back to their abode after the hunters had left and they continued their merry making. Lenny, the most spectacular parrot among the parrots, was well known for his jealousy of other birds. He was highly jealous of the performance of the Nightingales. Out of jealousy, he volunteered to sing but his voice made all the birds poke fun at him and he left the stage feeling sorry for himself. Very early in the next morning Lenny and other parrots flew together ignoring flight with other birds. During their flight, Lenny discussed the Nightingales with his mates, their magnificent voice and how they can be dealt with to make other birds to abhor them. They did not arrive at any reasonable conclusion as it is difficult for them to break the mutual relationship that exists among the birds. Lenny became more uncomfortable living among the other birds and usually he chooses to live outside on other trees. Bob and his friend Ted were on one of their usual hunting expeditions. Across the sky the nightingales were flying singing along with the morning cold breeze. The two hunters bewitched again by this melody looked up to admire the singing birds. They continued watching these singing birds until they landed on a nearby tree. Bob in his crave to get hold of this bird walked to the tree and began climbing. The Nightingales noticing this stranger quickly flew away. Bob felt sad about this, forgotten that trying to catch a flying creature is a futile exercise except a hunter uses a weapon, and since Bob didn't intend to hurt the birds, capturing them became a complicated exercise. Lenny was also on a nearby tall tree and he realized that that the intruders that disrupted their festival were after Nightingales.
Lenny flew away to meet his mates and he discussed with them about what he had seen and he explained to them that through the humans he will be able to deal with the parrots. Lenny started an unusual friendship with the nightingales as if truly he loved them. However Lenny and his two mates began monitoring the two hunters. On a particular day, they come across these two hunters during their hunting expedition. Lenny who was gifted to communicate in human language flew on to Bob's shoulder and he started whistling. Bob became frightened and attempted to push him away but Lenny quickly flew and he said, “Pretty hunters always looking for helpless creatures.” “What! This bird can talk.” Bob said in astonishment. “That’s incredible I think it must be a special bird, we should capture it.” Lenny flew back on top of Bob's shoulder, “What kind of creature is this?” Lenny landed on his palm. Soon Lenny fell into talking with the two hunters and both enjoyed the company, particularly the hunters were excited to come across this spectacular bird. Soon, Lenny’s two mates came and joined them. At night Lenny and his mates returned to their habitat feeling happy. Likewise the hunters returned to their homes also feeling great, forgetting they had not hunt for any animal. They reported their success of communicating with humans and the other parrots felt very glad. “About our communication with humans, in which way does it make it possible for us to deal with the Nightingales?” One of the parrots asked Lenny. “I am sure that this would be the key for us to harm the Nightingales.”
Lenny and his two friends continued their communication with the humans. During one of their occasional meetings with the hunters, Bob asked these parrots about the bird that used to sing so beautifully. "My lovely birds do you know the bird that used to sing so beautifully?" "Oh! The Nightingales, we are best of friends." Lenny replied excitedly. "Can they also communicate with humans?" Ted asked. "Oh yes, they can communicate with humans.” "Really that's very lovely, but they always run away whenever we want to play with them, " Bob said sadly. "Can you help us invite them?" Ted asked hastily. "The Nightingales are shy and they don't like communicating with humans I will try my best to convince them to associate with you ." Lenny assured them. The hunters were very happy and they thanked Lenny so much for being such a lovely bird. Lenny and his mates waved goodbye to their friends. They flew happily home. During their flight, a parrot asked, "But Lenny you surely know that the Nightingales cannot communicate with humans and do you think it is possible for us to lure all the Nightingales to the hunters?" "I know truly that the Nightingales cannot talk like us but I deliberately told them that they can communicate like us so that they can feel more desperate to get hold of the Nightingales, I also have a special plan for the Nightingales tomorrow to take them away to the hunters." Lenny replied his friend with assurance. "That's very lovely." His friend said happily. They got to their homeland rejoicing. All the other parrots also felt very happy about this. The parrots continued their friendship with the Nightingales and the Nightingales regarded them as true friends. In the next morning, Lenny and about ten parrots went out on another journey. In the evening they returned back to inform the Nightingales that they are to go to a special feast. They explained to the Nightingales that they had be
en organizing a feast and they will be happy to have them sing at the feast. The Nightingales were very happy to be invited.
Very early in the morning, the nightingales and the parrots started their happy journey. The parrots led the way, the journey was quite long. They finally reached a place well decorated with beautiful flowers. The parrots told the nightingales that this path led to the large feast. “You shall be the one to lead the way to this magnificent feast.” Lenny told the nightingales happily. There was a door way designed with sparkling pink and yellow flowers. The joyous Nightingales flapped their wings happily into this door way, but the unexpected happened as the nightingales became trapped. They flew into a trap that the parrots had set for them. The Nightingales could neither move nor fly. They met the greatest shock of their life. They never knew that the parrots are devils disguised as friends. The day before, the parrots had gone to meet the hunters and lied to them that the Nightingales were afraid to meet the humans. They were able to get access to the tools of these hunters which included a large tangled net. They prepared this particular place where they set the net as a trap to imprison the nightingales to keep them away from the flying kingdom. The parrots feeling fulfilled flew back to their habitat, but there was still a problem unsolved as they must explain to the other birds why the nightingales failed to return with them. On getting back home, they pretended to be sorrowful as they narrated a long story to the other birds about how their feast was disrupted by hunters who forcefully took the nightingales away while they managed to escape. The birds believed this story wholeheartedly and they all became scared of moving close to the land area where they could easily be attacked by hunters. The parrots continued to live happily. They failed to remember that every deed has its rewards.
The nightingales couldn’t bear the miserable life that the parrots had created for them. They didn’t give up on getting themselves out of this net. A lucky nightingale was able to get loose by its strong pull on the net. This nightingale helped his friends to break free from the net and they all felt extremely happy. They embarked on a happy journey to their home tree to revenge on the parrots. Getting back to their home tree, they felt joyful. All the birds were amazed and happy to see them except the parrots. The Nightingales were warmly welcomed by the remaining birds. They brought home the net. The birds asked them how they rescued themselves from the human trap the parrots claimed to be the reason the Nightingales couldn’t return back home. The Nightingales showed them the large tangled net and explained in details the unimaginable malicious act of the parrots to all the birds. The parrots had nothing to say as defense, since their evil deed had been revealed by the victims. The birds couldn’t believe that the parrots could be so dubious and cruel in character. Before the judgment was passed upon them, the parrots were asked to state the reason for their act. Lenny, being the architect of this plan volunteered to speak on their behalf, he revealed the fact that their act was out of jealousy for the Nightingales. The owl, the judge, first of all subjected the parrots to a lengthy lecture on why they shouldn’t be jealous and cruel in their life. After this, the judge gave the nightingales the license to deal with the parrots as it pleased them after which they will be banished from the Home tree. The Nightingales choose the same option the parrots choose for them, the parrots were forced into the tangled net where they will be left for a few days after which they will be driven out of the bird’s kingdom. During the few days, the parrots were subjected to hunger. This made them to realize the degree of their wicked act towards the Nightingales. When their period of imprisonment was over, the birds showed them the way out of the bird’s kingdom. But the other parrots pleaded explaining how Lenny lured them into the wicked act. As the parrots were flying out shamefully, Lenny looked back for once at the Nightingales and flew back to them and he said, “I never knew the extent of my wickedness towards you until I found myself in it, I feel so sorry because I allowed my jealousy to override my sanity, I know that you will all be thinking that I got my just deserts, I am so sorry.” And he flew away.
All the birds watched them as they flew away out of sight. The Nightingales didn’t accept Lenny’s apology in their hearts, they viewed Lenny and his fellow parrots as their archenemy and the devil among the birds. The birds continued living their simple and happy life uninterrupted until a particular day when a group of hunters with their various hunting tools climbed the tree as if to abduct all of them. Actually they were Bob and his crew who figured out their missing net on the top of the tree. They had come to recover the net from the birds, which they thought they had stolen from them. The birds were terribly terrified and they all flew away to different places. Some birds were lucky to find a comfortable tree for themselves but some were not. Many of the birds flew a long distance to different parts of the world. Among the unlucky ones were the Nightingales they found it hard to find a tree that will make them comfortable. They continued their search for days and they were feeling so frustrated. During their journey they met the parrots on a small tree, Lenny and his friends were happy to see them. However the Nightingales felt terribly angry seeing them, they flew away from their direction. Lenny and his friends flew to meet them. “I am sorry for what had happened, Owl passed by and he explained to us that the humans came to attack you and you all ran away to seek refuge. I felt so sorry about it because it was my fault. I know why they came to meet you, they came to recover the net I stole away from them.” “Oh! So you are responsible for this too, you parrots are all devils. ” A Nightingale said angrily. The parrots volunteered to help the Nightingales to find a comfortable tree for them. But the Nightingales refused to be helped by the Parrots, before they left them, one of the Nightingales told the Parrots that they can never regain their trust. The Nightingales went their way and they finally found the best habitat for themselves. This is the reason why birds are scattered to all parts of the world.
Mum finished reading her tales In the middle of the night. Vivian and her elder brother had been overwhelmed by the world of the animal kingdom. They all felt amazed. “Mummy this is incredible, so this is how everything changed in the animal kingdom….. wow this is fantastic!” Vivian exclaimed happily. “It is magnificent, It unraveled all the mystery behind animals’ existence.” Vivian’ s brother said. “You are both right. When my grandfather narrated it to me I felt so excited and great “ Vivian ‘s mother replied. “So it is as a result of famine that everything changed in the animal kingdom, the strong animals became savage and devoured the weaker ones, this is superb… …. “ Continued Vivian. After much excitement concerning the animal tales, they went to bed feeling happy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ayoola Olafenwa is a young Christian born on October 9, 1998 in Ota Ogun State Nigeria. She is a preacher, writer, poet and student. She has a great passion for influencing lives positively and spends much of her time preaching the Gospel of Christ.
CONTACT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayofen
Email: [email protected]
Nature's Twist Page 9
