A Tale of Four Birds and Their Quest for Food and Happiness (2 page)

The birds took off from the small hut and flew toward the eastward direction of the long dusty road. As they flew through the dry, barren land, the Parrot finch told his companions that he needed to go his own way. He thought he could find food by himself. After saying goodbye, he flew in the north-east direction. The other three birds watched him as he slowly disappeared from the horizon.

Though saddened by the departure of Parrot finch, the three continued on their journey and continued to head east. They started to feel weak and thirsty because of their continuous flight over a large area of barren landscape which offered no food to eat or water to drink.

Their hope was revitalized, when they reached a bunkhouse. They landed in front of the entrance door, and they made themselves known by singing loudly yet again. When no person came out to notice them, however, they took initiative and began scouting around the house. They saw chickens, ducks, and turkeys in the backyard, eating scattered leftover rice.

The birds were so hungry that they just landed without any caution and joined the rest of the critters there. They quickly began picking pieces of scattered cooked rice until a chubby hen started to attack them in an effort to drive them away. A female turkey also got mad that the birds had joined the group that she, too, began attacking the birds. The birds wanted to eat more, but the hen and the turkey were doing a good job in guarding the area where the meal was scattered. The birds backed off and perched on a branch of mango tree and watched as the ducks, chickens, and turkeys continued to eat.

It was already getting dark, and the birds still had not had any luck in getting more food. The fowls only left the area when there was no more to eat. However, before the surroundings had gotten totally dark, they saw a man entering the bunkhouse. The birds decided to wait until morning to check and see if they had already found the man with lots of food. They slept huddled together on an inner branch of the old mango tree.

That morning, when the birds saw the man feeding the fowls, they got excited with the thought that they finally had found the man with a straw hat. When the man heard the shrill voices of the birds, he cast some grains of rice toward their direction. The birds rushed to the area where the grains had landed, but a hen with her brood came towards them and opened its wings to express her authority over the area. The intimidated birds moved back, and the grains that were cast for them were greedily eaten by the hen and her brood. A goose with four little babies also came over to the area and shared the meal with the chickens.

"We are not welcomed here," said the upset Baya Weaver.

"Do you believe that the man who lives here is the man with the straw hat, who the rich man told us had lots of food?" wondered Chestnut Munia.

"I guess so," said the Tree Sparrow. "This man here is kind, but his critters are not; they are greedy."

"I think we have to look for food somewhere else," suggested Chestnut Munia. The Baya Weaver agreed with the Munia's idea; the Tree Sparrow did not.

"We just need to come up with a clever idea that will help us outwit those fowls in getting food," said the Tree Sparrow.

They thought about this for a moment. After a while, the Chestnut Munia made a decision. He wanted to look for another place. Though he did not doubt that they had found the generous man, he just could not take the idea of being driven away every time they tried to eat even just a small portion of food. The Baya Weaver wanted to go with the Chestnut Munia while the Tree Sparrow wanted to stay. The Tree Sparrow had decided he could no longer take the risk of dying from hunger because of the uncertainty of finding food if he left, but he did decide he could take the risk of getting in trouble with the fowls just as long as he could steal a bit of their meal.

After saying their goodbyes, the Chestnut Munia and the Baya Weaver flew off and continued heading toward the east. They saw traces of a carabao sledge coming from that direction. After a while, they reached a small abandoned village. Many houses made of wood and bamboos were shattered and burnt.

In a damaged waiting shed, the birds saw an aging man sitting on the ground, talking to himself. They approached him, and the man turned to them with glee when they perched on the open side wall. The man scooped some old breadcrumbs from his plastic bag and offered it to the birds. He giggled like a child when the birds started to pick at some of the bits of bread that he threw.

Suddenly, the man had a closer look at the Chestnut Munia, and he began acting like a madman as he tried to drive it away.

"A bad omen!" he cried. "Th-the black markings on your head…" The man pointed with a tremble to the head of the Munia. His eyes got bigger as he acted more strangely. The Baya Weaver perched on the man's right shoulder.

"Go away from this place," the man ordered. "You will only bring bad luck here!" He drove away the Munia by waving his arms.

Fluttering over the open side wall, the Chestnut Munia looked at the Baya Weaver and asked if he was going to stay with the strange man. The Baya Weaver glanced at the food stock of the strange man before admitting that he was going to stay.

Upon hearing the Baya Weaver's reply, the Chestnut Munia said his goodbye and left the shed with an empty feeling. He searched for food underneath the materials of wrecked houses. He also checked the ruined kitchens, the abandoned poultries, and the piggeries, but he just got frustrated. He then decided to leave the abandoned village.