Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Meena. She had two sisters named Myhna and Meelu.
One day, while Meena was sitting by the window, a nightingale came and sat in front of her and sang a beautiful melody. After finishing its song, the nightingale flew away. The next day also the nightingale came to Meena’s window and sang a melody. This became a routine and eventually they both became friends.
Meena’s sisters were jealous of her and the nightingale. They told her to put the bird in a cage otherwise it would fly away one day and never come back. Meena thought that this was a good idea and the next day, she took hold of the bird and put it in a cage.
The nightingale cried and implored Meena to let it out. It said that it is depressed and couldn’t sing when it is caged. It couldn’t live without singing. But Meena didn’t listen.
Many days later, Meena went to check on the nightingale, but was upset to see it lying in the cage, immobile. Meena took the nightingale out and realised that it was dead. She started crying and told her father what had happened. Her father was disappointed with Meena’s sisters and punished them.
Meena could not get over the loss of her nightingale. She kept thinking that if she had let the bird go, it wouldn’t have died. Now she could live only with the memories of her dead nightingale.
Malavika Gopan , IV B, Believers Church Residential School, Thiruvalla
