365 DAYS 365 TALES

A WISH

"I don't understand engineering Papa. It's not me."

"What do you understand then? Tell me your career plan and we won't have this conversation again."

Rashmi walked out of the room, her head hung low. This was how it went every time. Why can't I face this question? Her parents wanted her to do engineering. Her friends pleaded her to join arts with them. But what did she want to do? There was no answer to that yet.

Rashmi threw herself on the bed and cried with her head dug in her pillow. This was getting intolerable now.

"Oh GOD, if I could only be a bird. I would fly far away from here; from all this, never to return."

Rashmi was about to close her eyes and end the day when a sound boomed through the house.

"May you have your wish child..."

Rashmi jolted up on her bed. What was that? Then it all started. She didn't understand what was happening.

There seemed to be something flowing in her body. As if all her bones were melting. Her hands started to look very big. Then there were no fingers. She was feeling all ticklish as tiny feathers sprouted on her face. Before she could get her bearings, the whole world had become huge for her.

Or maybe, she had become so tiny for this world. She was the bird she wanted to be.

She spread her petite wings and flapped them hard. The first attempt wasn't very good. But after several such tries, she lifted herself off the mattress. Before she knew, she was soaring the great blue sky.

She went far away from home. As far as her tiny wings could carry her. She finally settled on a tree. This is it, she thought, this is life.

But little did she knew, that her LIFE was to be cut short. She was singing in her melodious voice, when a strong force pulled her from behind. In the next second, she was in a tight, confined space. No light in sight, and some slimy juices flowing all around her. A snake's belly.

This terrified her now. God is just playing tricks with me. This is all a dream. She bit herself in a hope to wake up, but nothing happened. This was it, this was the end. She made one last plea to god before it all went black.

"God, I'm sorry I wished for something other than what you made me. You must have made me a girl for a reason, only I couldn't figure it out. In these final moments, I now understand that being a bird doesn't meant freedom. I now get it that every being have their own struggles. But they face it with character. I'm sorry that I quit on myself this early.

"And yes my dear GOD, don't try and fulfill anyone else's wish. We don't really mean everything we wish."

*** 

Beware before making any silly wishes like this, it might just come true. 

cchinu (23/03)