Rita the robin was looking more anxious than usual. “What’s wrong, my friend?” inquired Dazel as they left their classroom at the end of the school day.

“It’s nothing, Dazel,” Rita sighed. “I just feel a bit down, that’s all.”

“Are things alright with your mother?” Dazel asked hesitantly. She knew Rita’s mother was an edgy, frail creature. Rita also had the responsibility of caring for her five young siblings. However, Dazel had hoped their circumstances changed for the better ever since Rita and her family moved from the volcanic mountains to the pond.

“More or less,” Rita answered after a pause. “You know a lot more about my life than anyone else, Dazel. My mother has become much calmer ever since we moved to the pond but her health continues to deteriorate. Yes, food has become easier to gather and the pond neighbours are all helpful so our life is better…”

“Then what is the matter?” questioned Dazel.

“It’s just that I worry all the time. I worry about how my mother will be feeling when I wake up or whether she will be ill when I return home. I worry about my five siblings attending school next year. I worry about bringing our next meal home on time…,” the robin buried her beak in her chest. Tears flowed down her feathery cheeks.

“Oh Rita!” Dazel said, hugging her friend. “I wish there was a way to help you. Have you taken your mother to Dr Owl. Maybe he can prescribe her a tonic to make her feel better?”

“Yes, I have. Dr Owl has been kind enough to prescribe a ginseng potion for her. It’s supposed to give her energy. But still, she has some good days and some bad days,” Rita replied.

“Is it possible for me to meet your mother?” asked Dazel. “I hope she won’t mind though. I have some mangoes Din Din brought for me the other day from the Fruit Park. They are so sweet and succulent. They might make your mother feel better.”

Rita smiled, “Sure, that’s very kind of you.”

So later that evening after Dazel had neatly cut the mangoes into long, golden slivers and packed them in a banana leaf, along with a bunch of green grapes, she flew towards her old neighbourhood. Waving at her old friends including the frog family, Swain the swan, and the many insects who thronged the area, she slipped into the underbrush where Rita’s nest lay nestled within a Camelia hedge.

“Hi Rita,” Dazel greeted her friend asking permission to come inside the hedge. “Hello Mrs Rose.”

Rita’s mother smiled weakly at Dazel. When Dazel offered her the mangoes, her beady eyes lit up and she nibbled on a slice.

“I heard you weren’t feeling too well, Mrs Rose. So I thought I’d come by and visit,” the duck said cheerily.

“Thank you, Dazel, but I’ve had a numbing day today. I’m afraid I won’t be very good company,” Mrs Rose replied wearily.

Dazel played with the five little robins —Rita’s four brothers and one sister. They seemed to be thriving ever since their move from the volcanic plains. “So are you little ones looking forward to school starting next year?” Dazel asked. The five heads nodded earnestly. Rita looked with pride at her siblings.

She might be their elder sister but she was actually their mother in reality. In that moment, Dazel fully understood the burden that fell upon Rita’s small shoulders. Rita, who herself was so young and innocent, had been forced to bid goodbye to her youth too soon.

Dazel offered the grapes to Rita and her siblings after which they all had a hearty dinner. When it was time to say goodbye, Rita walked with Dazel up to the other end of the pond to thank her for her compassion.

“Please don’t thank me. It’s the least I can do. But there is something I have realised, Rita. You have to take care of yourself. If something happens to you what will the rest of your family do?” Dazel asked solemnly.

“I hardly have time to think about myself,” Rita explained with a resigned shake of her small head. “My days and nights are spent worrying about my responsibilities.”

“Let me think about it. We will talk tomorrow. The sun is setting and you must rest,” Dazel suggested.

Rita nodded without further argument. Dazel could see she was exhausted. The next day at school, Dazel hunted for Rita at lunch time. “Hey Rita. Come sit with me. I have prepared a new salad snack today. I’ve put some crunchy pumpkin seeds in the mixed fruit.”

Rita was grateful. She knew by now that Dazel brought double the lunch for her because Rita hardly had enough to eat herself. Sometimes, this mid-day snack she enjoyed with the duck in school was the only proper meal she had. Dazel too knew this. But both said nothing as they ate in silence while the chatter and chirping of the other birds filled the premises of the Aviary School.

Finally, Dazel broke the silence. “Rita, there is one thing that I have learnt from Wiz Rooster. He knew I had no family and that I had to take care of myself. So he always told me to concentrate on the present moment. Don’t dwell on the past; don’t fret about the future. Just focus on what the present holds,” Dazel said looking intently into Rita’s eyes.

Rita gazed on as if dumbfounded by her friend’s words.

Encouraged, Dazel continued, “Look at the blessings you have: Your mother and your family. A home. A community to live in where you are accepted. Food. An education! Appreciate that. There is no way you or I can know what will happen tomorrow but if worrying about the future will ruin your present, what good is it?”

Rita nodded and her eyes filled with tears. “Yes,” the robin whispered. “I hate being a worrier.”

“You’re not a worrier, Rita, you’re a warrior!” Dazel said, embracing her friend. The robin replied with an enigmatic smile.

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