It had been very hot for the past couple of months, since the trees got chopped off by the local people. The forest looked empty, most of the trees were gone and so were the birds that lived on them. They had left when their houses fell to the ground with the trees.

I have been waiting for Tina for a long time when suddenly Tina appeared.

“Squawk!” she went, but her attempt at scaring me failed as she noticed the sadness on my face and asked, “Why so sad, Mia?”

She was not aware of what happened yesterday, and I was nervous to tell her, because I can’t see her sad. Seeing me worried, she insisted. So I started reluctantly, “Lia ...” but again, I stopped.

“What?” Tina asked impatiently.

I continued, “She left with her family, as they chopped down the tree she was living on. I don’t know if she was able to find a good place to make a nest.”

Tina was dumbstruck.

We were the last three parrot families left in what remained of the forest, I, Lia and Tina. Now it was only two of us. I looked away, but I could feel her eyes brimming with tears and then I heard her whisper something, “I want revenge!”

Tina was overreacting, but I couldn’t blame her because she was closer to Lia, than me. So I put my wing on her shoulder and said, “Calm down Tina, there’s nothing we can do.”

But it seemed that she didn’t want to give in. Then suddenly, she flapped her wings, flew up and took two rounds in the air as if she was thinking and then she spoke loudly, “Mia, I have to go. Wait right here.”

I tried to say something to stop her, but she left and I had to wait. Some time passed, and then I saw Tina in the sky, at a distance. But she was not alone. She was with a murder of crows.

“Tina, what are you up to?” I shouted.

She looked at me and smiled. She came closer and said me, “They are my friends, Mia.”

Then she turned to the crows and said something to them, which, of course, I could not hear.

I looked at her and asked again, “Please, tell me what is happening?”

She grinned devilishly, which scared me, facing the crows she said, “These local people need the taste of their own medicine, if they cut one more tree, these crows will attack them and destroy the crops in their fields.”

I was impressed by Tina’s smart idea. She told the crows to wait for her signal when someone tried to cut a tree.

Suddenly, we heard a loud drilling sound below us. Tears filled my eyes as I realised it was my tree in danger now. The humans were there with big chainsaws in their hands and they had started cutting the trunk.

Tina signalled to the crows, and they quickly swooped down on the ground, flying close to where the humans were and then went to the nearby fields and started creating havoc.

The sudden loud cawing and the large number of crows startled the humans. And when they saw the crows flying towards their friends, they dropped their chainsaws and fled to save their crops in the field.

“See, Mia, my plan worked! I’ve taught those humans a lesson for cutting down our homes,” Tina exclaimed happily.

“Yeah, but how long can we keep the crows there?” I asked, feeling disheartened.

“I’m not worried about that. All I know is I saved our tree,” Tina replied.

“Tina, these humans will face the consequences soon. When there are no birds or trees left, and all the animals are gone, they’ll face Mother Nature’s wrath. The environment will become hot, and they won’t be able to undo their actions,” I said.

Tina nodded. “You’re right. Mother Nature will seek revenge, and that’ll be punishment enough for their bad deeds. For now, let’s find a peaceful place where there are no evil humans. Let’s go to Lia.”

With that, Tina and I flew away in search of a peaceful abode.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 13th, 2024