Chapter #4Aruna makes new friends by: K T Ong   "Uhhhh... Hello, Carol," greeted Aruna."I'm Aruna." Somehow Aruna felt a strange, soothing radiance emanating from the maiden and the elderly man. It was almost as if midsummer had returned and she was basking in the noonday sun.
"Aruna... That's a lovely name," commented Carol. "Suits you just fine, with your sweet face and red saree."
"Thanks," said Aruna with a smile, noting the curiously melodious quality of Carol's voice. "You live around here?"
"Not really," answered Carol. "Frank and I actually used to live in the mountains north of this town; only in the last few days did we decide to enter its walls."
Aruna's eyes went wide with shock when she heard this. "What? You've always lived outside this city, and in the mountains at that?"
"Yes," answered Carol. Frank nodded in agreement.
"How have you been able to survive?" asked an incredulous Aruna. "The wilderness outside of the cities is now infested with evil creatures of all kinds, who no longer fear the sun as its rays have grown far too feeble to be able to hurt them anymore. That is why we very seldom travel from city to city nowadays, because of the extreme dangers of leaving the safety of the city walls."
Carol stopped smiling. She looked around as if to see if any other people were around, then turned back to Aruna. "Aruna... Can we trust you to keep it a secret if we tell you?"
Aruna was puzzled. "But why?..."
Then to Aruna's further surprise, the outline of Carol's form began to blur, as well as that of Frank. In a moment they were no longer there -- and two very large, beautiful birds had taken their place. The birds had a golden aura around them and feathers all made of flashing gold, and long tails trailed from their bodies. One had light blue tail feathers and the other light brown, and they flew gracefully in the air, leaving a trail of colored twinkles behind them as they did. They circled the oak tree a couple times and again Aruna heard the lovely birdsong, which she now realized had come from them.
The two birds alighted gently before Aruna. Then their forms began to blur again, and in a moment Carol and Frank were standing once more in front of her.
"We're actually not human, Aruna," said Carol softly. "We're... sunbirds."
"Oh!" exclaimed Aruna. "So you're..."
Carol lifted a finger to her mouth. "Shhhh! Not so loud, people will hear!"
Aruna softened her voice immediately. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "So you're actually the legendary sunbirds, descendants of the Simurgh who lives in the very Heart of the Sun? I've read about your kind in my songbooks, but always I've thought it's only a legend."
"We're for real, Aruna, please believe me," answered Carol in a gentle voice. "Now you know why we could live in the mountains without fear; no creatures of darkness would dare come within a hundred paces of us, for to do so is death for them. In fact you humans are far more dangerous to us."
"How so?"
"We have been hunted by humans ever since our kind came to earth," sighed Carol. "Hunted for our feathers or kept in cages. That is the main reason why we chose to live in the mountains -- so it would be harder for humans to find us. But we can sense that you're different. You're a kind person who will not harm animals. So we lured you here with our song!"
Aruna was awed. "It's a great honor that such exalted beings as you should be desirous of befriending a mere peasant girl like me. But if you would pardon my extreme curiosity, it would seem unusual to me that you should come within this city and seek my friendship. Is there a special reason, or is it just that simple, that you wish to make friends?"
"Truth be told," answered Carol, "there is a special reason. Our world is dying, as you know. My kind now faces extinction -- we all do -- unless somehow we can rejuvenate our sun or find a new sun. So we have decided to go around in search of as many friends as we can find, that together we may help each other and through our collective efforts find a way to restore our world. What say you, Aruna?"  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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