Dazel tossed and turned all night. “Please, help me!” a voice whispered in her dreams as soon as her eyes grew heavy with sleep. The next morning was school and Dazel had to make extra effort to pay attention in her classes.

That afternoon, she made her way to the Post Office for her duty but her heart was beating erratically. Last evening she had found a note at the Post Office counter with the words, “Please help me!”

She looked around at the clamour of messages being dropped and picked by pigeons. Dazel’s sharp eyes scanned the counter where all the incoming messages were strewn.

Using her wings and webbed feet to sort out the mail Wiz Rooster had received, her gaze fell on a folded, unmarked banana leaf.

Her wings trembling, she opened the leaf and the words jumped out, “Please, help me.”

“Where did this come from?” she asked the other pigeons on duty. But like with the first note, no one seemed to know. That evening when Dazel went to hand over the mail to Wiz Rooster she shared the anonymous letter. “This is the second message, Sir. I am not going to just sit there until I find out who has written these notes.”

“Let’s compare the two notes,” suggested the rooster wisely. He took out the first note from his desk and kept it beside the latest note.

“It’s the same handwriting. And there are spelling errors. It means it’s been written by someone very young, perhaps uneducated…,” the rooster pronounced thoughtfully. “My instinct says that this is a genuine plea for help,” said Dazel.

“Why do you think this creature is not asking for help directly?” asked the rooster. “Maybe he or she is afraid?” Dazel shared her theory. “The two messages were received during school hours when the Post Office is empty…I want to miss school tomorrow in order to hide and see who delivers these messages.” Wiz Rooster nodded his agreement but said nothing further.

The next day, when all the other young birds were attending classes at the Aviary School, Dazel hid behind the Post Office waiting to spot someone lurking around. Suddenly, she saw a movement in the bushes. It was a scrawny black and white bird with a speckled body. Its beady eyes seemed to dart around furtively and it quickly took out a folded banana leaf from under its wing and put it on the Post Office counter.

“Hey,” Dazel yelled as she flew out from behind the building. “Wait! Why do you need help? The bird stopped dead in its tracks. It flapped its wings as if to fly away.

“Please, don’t fly away,” pleaded Dazel. “I will try to help you.”

The bird looked into Dazel’s blue eyes and its eyes filled with tears. “I want Wiz Rooster’s help. I want to go to school, but my mother does not allow me.”

“Why not?” asked Dazel in amazement. “I don’t know. My name is Theo and I live in the swamps with my mother and brother. My brother and I are old enough to go to school but my mother is not willing to send us. She says it’s a waste… what good is an education? How will it help us? But I want to learn new things,” Theo said. His words came pouring out as if a dam had been broken.

“Come, I will take you to Wiz Rooster. He will speak to your mother,” assured Dazel. “Come with me,” and with those words Dazel motioned Theo to follow her. They flew directly to Wiz Rooster’s office at the Aviary School. Panting, Dazel told the whole story to the rooster who was listening carefully. Finally, Wiz spoke, “I know your mother. She is a hard nut to crack. It will take some convincing to melt her heart. But enough time has been wasted. Theo, take me to your home.”

Theo seemed speechless. “My mother will be furious with me if she finds out that I asked for help.”

“Okay, then I will arrange an accidental meeting with her,” replied the rooster.

“Tomorrow is a Saturday and I think I may pay a visit to the swamp. Dazel, would you like to accompany me?” The duck nodded.

The next morning, Dazel and Wiz Rooster flew towards the swamp which was located in the wetlands in the eastern end of D’Land. Long stretches of water with muddy banks stretched before them, surrounded by cypress trees. Dazel had been there before and recalled a nasty experience with the Venus Flytraps — the meat-eating plants — which grew there. She shuddered at the memory.

The wetlands were a dark and dank place. Dazel spotted Theo near one cup-shaped nest perched on a cypress tree. Wiz Rooster flew towards the nest and landed on the branch

“Hello Tyra,” the rooster greeted the elder bird in the nest. Two smaller thrushes were huddled near the mother.

“Wiz, it’s been a long time since I saw you,” Tyra, the mother of the younger thrushes, replied. She did not seem pleased to have company.

“Dazel and I were here exploring when we saw you. When did you move to the wetlands? You used to live near the lakeside,” asked Wiz Rooster.

“Well, I like my privacy,” Tyra replied. “So, how old are your sons? What are their names?” asked the rooster.

“Theo and Tom,” replied Tyra.

“Are they old enough to go to school?” the rooster asked casually. The mother thrush did not reply.

“Why don’t you send them to the Aviary School for Birds,” Wiz continued kindly. “I don’t believe in education. It’s a waste of time. Life is about the basics — surviving!” spat out Tyra vehemently.

“Why don’t you just visit the Aviary School for Birds one of these days,” suggested Wiz. “You might change your mind.” Turning to the young thrushes the rooster asked, “Would you like to learn at school and make new friends?”

Both the thrushes nodded as if they couldn’t believe their luck. Tyra looked at them in anger. “I am their mother and I will decide.”

“Education is a basic right of all the creatures of D’Land. There is hardly any creature who is not studying at school,” Wiz Rooster convinced Tyra calmly.

“What good does it do? Does it put food in their stomachs? I’d rather my children spend time hunting for food and storing it so there’s enough to eat,” argued Tyra.

Dazel could not remain silent any longer. “There is so much to learn about the world. I live alone; I have no family but I am able to take care of myself as well as help others because I have an education,” the duck said. “Why don’t you just try sending them to school for a week. It’s just for five hours.”

“We will help you hunt for food as soon as our classes are over, Mother,” joined in Theo meekly.

“The school is too far,” persisted Tyra. “For a bird, distance is not an obstacle,” countered Dazel.

Tyra seemed to be outnumbered. “I said no!” she thundered. “Now I would suggest that you both leave. We have better things to do.”

Wiz Rooster and Dazel looked at each other. There was nothing more to say. Dejected, Dazel followed the rooster out of the wetlands.

“We failed, Sir,” Dazel said when they finally reached the rooster’s home. “You give up too soon, Dazel,” replied the rooster with an enigmatic smile.

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