A surprise visitor

It was a busy day. Everybody was hustling and bustling about. Final touches were being given to the charts and models were being perfected. Everybody was working hard for the upcoming Science Fair in school. In the midst of that entire flurry, Nupur went up to Sowmya Ma'am, the teacher, and said, "Ma'am, I found a weaver bird's nest near my house". For a moment, there was complete silence. Everyone looked at each other in fascination. "A weaver bird's nest …" whispers went around.

Sowmya Ma'am replied, "Nupur, you destroyed the home of a poor little innocent bird." "Not at all, Ma'am!" Nupur replied defiantly, "There have been heavy thunder showers in Bangalore lately. A few days ago, several trees got uprooted too. Due to the raging storm, the poor bird's nest dropped to the ground! We couldn't place it back, try hard as we did. That is why I brought the lovely bird's nest to school, hoping that we could put it to some use in the Science fair." Sowmya Ma'am said, "Very well. We shall see how we can use it"

The preparations for the fair resumed. I got back to painting a model, while my friends resumed embellishing charts and gluing cardboard together. "Tweet!" A peculiar noise was heard. "Who was that?" demanded Sowmya Ma'am angrily. "Tweet!" There it was again.

"You are testing my patience. Stop it at once!" ordered Sowmya Ma'am fierily.
"Who is this jester, who dares to do such an uncivilized act in my classroom?"
Suddenly, there was an ear deafening scream, contributed by none other than -Nupur! The teacher rushed to her bench and furiously asked "What is the meaning of all this?" "The nest…."said Nupur, trembling, "The nest is moving!" All eyes on the nest. The next few minutes were minutes of utter confusion and chaos! Everybody rushed to Nupur's bench to take a close look at the mysteriously moving nest.

And, indeed, the nest was moving. "Tweet!" This time we were all sure that the sound came from the nest all right! "Now children," said Sowmya ma'am authoritatively, "All of you get back to your respective places." So said, so done.  The teacher scrutinized the nest. She carefully laid aside the few thin strands of straw.

And there stood a tiny, fragile weaver bird, just hatched! It was so small that u could hold it in your palm with ease! It looked around anxiously for its mother, terrified by gigantic eyes staring at it! We all got a chance to see the petite bird, its black raven feathers contrasted with white.

Our classroom was lucky to be graced with such a wonderful happening - the day when a lovely bird brightened the world with its arrival. The experience was a very memorable one, one that all my class-mates and I will always treasure!

Amulya Murthy
Class VII B, SKCH (CBSE)