Short fiction by Bulbul Sharma: A mother takes her children to birdwatch in the mountains

“What are you doing? The children are rolling down the hillside and you are watching some bird?” yelled her mother as Naina focused her binoculars on the verditer flycatcher. She knew the bird well; a restless creature, always on the move, and it wouldn’t stay on the branch except for a few seconds more. She ignored her mother’s tirade and continued to watch the tiny, turquoise-blue bird. The startling, glossy blue wings fluttered for a few moments, the black-rimmed eyes gave a swift glance towards the sky, and the little bird flew up to catch a fleeting insect. It was gone in a flash and the branch it was sitting on swayed a little, the only sign that it had perched there a few seconds ago

“I don’t understand this mania for birds,” muttered her mother, picking up the clothes that the wind had swept down to the ground from the clothesline. Leaves fluttered all around them on this bright, cool morning and Naina, still looking for the elusive bird, smiled at her mother affectionately and said, “The children are fine, Ma. Look how happy they are rolling down the hillside. They never get a chance to do this in our tiny...

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