That day, the owl fledgling opened his eyes for the first time. In the deep hollow of the tree tr... more That day, the owl fledgling opened his eyes for the first time. In the deep hollow of the tree trunk, when he opened his eyes for the first time, he saw thick darkness around him. His mother sat covering him with her wings. He dreamt of many things, his soft limbs lay on the pricking bed of twigs. He could hear some noise from the top. The wings of his mother fluttered slightly. She puffed up her feathers for a while and then drew him close to her body. He felt cosy. He chirped merrily. His mother rubbed her beak on his tiny beak and whispered to be quiet and still. He did not understand why his mother said this. But he grew quiet. The creases of his skin slowly unfurled absorbing warmth from the soft feathers of his mother. He felt buoyant. He thought of standing up. He stretched his limbs in that bed of twigs. His mother too moved a little away from him. She pecked his tiny limbs and straightened them. The fledgling looked up. Darkness seemed less thick. He closed his eyes. Again, he looked at his mother and then looked up. Mother understood his mind. She placed her stub nose on his and said smilingly, "Darling! How soon have you become so sensible? All right, wait for some more time; let feathers grow fully on your wings. I'll teach you how to fly. I'll tell you how to flap your wings. You'll travel across the sky and see new things for yourself. Here you lie in darkness, but when you go out, it will no more be dark out there. The sky will be filled with bright moonbeams. Little stars will fondly wink at you. I'll introduce you to new things when I take you out on a round. Grow up soon. Let your limbs be a little strong." His mother shoved a bit of guava into his tiny beak, picking it out of the cavity. He swallowed it slowly. Ah, how sweet! He imagined seeing the world for himself. The world must be very sweet. Some creatures ran under the tree making the familiar huke-ho noise. The fledgling felt drowsy lying under the warm feathers of his mother. He dreamt of many things. He dreamt
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