Sunny, the Magpie

Daniel lies on his bed, eyes wide open and thinking hard whether he should accept the scholarship to study anthropology in Britain. The study of human cultures and societies appeals to him but that means he would have to leave his beloved Janet for many years. He twists and turns in his bed, but still sleep won’t come, he is torturing himself. What would happen to her? Who will fetch her home from university? Could I cope with life in a foreign land without her? What if she fell in love with someone else? They are so many suitors wooing his smart and beautiful Janet. Daniel found no answers. Soon he fell asleep.
In his dream, Daniel’s memory was transported back to his days in primary school. He must be about 7 or 8 at the time. He remembers his classmate and good friend who sat beside him. His name was Guan Seng. They talked, laughed and played together. They did everything together, some time to the utter amusement of their teachers and fellow classmates. They had shared some hilariously mischievous moments, which till this day, nobody really knew who did it. For instance, one morning, their English teacher walked into the classroom and sat down on her chair facing all her little dovey-eyed students. She opened her drawer trying to find a chalk to start her lesson on the black board. Suddenly, she jumped up and started screaming at the top of her voice. She saw some cockroaches crawling inside her drawer. “Who did this? You little rascal!”, exclaimed Miss Lim. Daniel and Seng Guan just looked straight into Miss Lim ’s eyes with a surprised innocent look. Not even a blink. The kind of look that says “Oh My God, who could do such a thing to poor Miss Lim? During the recess, they rushed to the school’s playground and laughed to their hearts content. It was them who caught some croaches and mischieviously threw them into Miss Lim's drawer. They could talk non- stop about their pets. They always made up stories about their pets, often imaginary pets. They lived in a make-belief, fantasized world of their own. They would invent stories on horses, rabbits, monkeys and snakes etc. Till today, Daniel wonders why they believed the stories that they used to make up. “Daniel, I have a pony ! My horse gave birth to a baby pony last night!”, Seng Guan told Daniel matter-of-factly. “Oh, really Seng Guan? Can you bring it to school tomorrow please?. Let me play with your pony”, an excited Daniel pleaded. “Sure, I will carry him to school tomorrow, but you have to bring some food and drink for him, otherwise he would die”. That night Daniel could hardly sleep. He dreamt of wild horses with their ponies grazing in the plane on top of a big wide mountain. He saw cowboys on horsebacks herding the cattle back to their ranches. He imagined stallions pulling coaches and galloping into the sky. Soon, the sky was full of horses! And true to his words, in the morning Daniel asked his mum to pack more food and drink for him to take to school. He told his mother he is feeling more hungry these days. “Where is the pony Seng Guan?” Daniel asked. “Oh, sorry Daniel, his mother doesn’t want him to come”, replied Seng Guan matter-of-factly. And of course Daniel believed him.
Daniel also remembers an incident when his grandmother took him to visit his aunt in Brickfields. One weekend, he accompanied his grandmother to the bus stop, trying to catch the bus to go to his aunt’s. Soon a bus approached. However, before boarding the bus, Daniel saw a small young Magpie lying injured on the tarred road. If the bus moved, it would surely be the end of this little Magpie bird. Daniel stared at the poor little bird, don’t know what to do. “Well, come on Dan”, his grandmother hurried him, coaxing him to board the bus. The bus driver looked impatient and annoyed. “Please wait, I want to pick up the little bird first”, he told them. Quick as a flash, he rushed to scoop up the injured Magpie and boarded the bus sitting next to his grandmother. That whole day while at his aunt’s house, Daniel did not join his cousins and friends to play their favorite marble game. He just held on to his little Magpie. He would tell them , “Don’t touch the bird! Don’t come near him! It is mine”. He took the bird home and asked his father to buy him a cage. He asked his mother to look for medicine to apply to the wound in his little fragile leg. He urged his brother not to throw any food inside the cage. That would kill the bird he thought. Only he could feed him food! He commanded his sister not to take the cage outside the house to show him off to her friends. Now everyone in the family is involved! Every morning, before going to school, Daniel would spring rice or padi husks and place water inside his cage. When he came back from school, the first thing he would do was to rush to see his pet bird. With Daniel's constant attention and devotion, the bird soon recovered. With each passing day, he grew healthier and stronger. He began to sing. They all loved to hear him sing. Magpies have the most beautiful singing voice in the birds kingdom. Daniel could even distinguish his voice from other Magpies. Daniel gave him a name. He named him Sunny. As time passed by, Daniel would take Sunny out for walks in the forest. He would place his cage on the branch of a tree to hear him sing. Sunny’s singing is sweet music to Daniel’s ears. He swore he never heard such beautiful singing from any other bird in the world! His voice attracts many female magpies too. Once Daniel opened the door of cage to let in a very lonely love struck female Magpie. But, before he knew it, Sunny flew away with his female admirer. “Oh, no... Come back, come back Sunny!” Daniel cried. Sunny disappeared into the forest and never came back. Daniel was heart broken. He stayed until the evening,hoping and praying Sunny would fly back to him. But there was no sign of Sunny. Finally he gave up. He brought down the bird cage and began walking home, his head hanging. His eyes welled up, emotions overtook him and he started to cry. He didn’t eat his dinner that evening. He went to bed early, clutching his bolster silently weeping. To his surprise and utter delight, the next morning, he heard his Sunny singing his enchanting melody with his beautiful full-throated voice. Daniel looked out of his window. There he was, singing and teasing Daniel. Daniel opened the window. Sunny flew in. There were together again.
One day, Daniel came home from school. He heard someone called his name. He looked around, but there was no one in sight. He went straight to his bedroom. He heard his name being called again. This time, he was sure. It was the voice of Sunny. “Daniel, Daniel, Daniel……”, Sunny would call him again and again everyday. Daniel only knew Parrots and Mynahs could be trained to talk but not Magpies. His handsome Sunny could talk! Everyone in the family adored Sunny. 2 years passed. One day, Daniel came home and saw Sunny lying in his cage motionless; just like the first time he saw him. But, this time he could not save him. Sunny was just too weak to move, he breathed heavily with his eyes closed. Sunny was dying. Daniel shouted out his name again an again, “Sunny, Sunny, wake up, wake up!” As if he heard him, as if he waited for Daniel to come home, Sunny struggled to open his eyes. He gave Daniel one last look and whispered “Daniel, Thank You”. These were Sunny's last words.