It was a Sunday and Dazel had relished a lazy breakfast. The rest of her morning had passed pleasurably setting her treasure chest with all the items she loved to collect on her adventures. This Sunday promised to be stimulating as she and her best friends, Din Din and Delma, had planned a picnic that evening near a newly-discovered spot at the far side of the lake bank and Dazel was looking forward to the rendezvous.

But as noon approached boredom began to creep in. “Evening seems so far away,” she mulled. Not one to sit idle, she wanted some way to pass her noon hours. “Let me see if Wiz Rooster is willing for some company,” she thought to herself. She flew from her pond home in the rooster’s backyard and landed on the window sill. But the rooster, she discovered, had an important faculty meeting with the teachers of the Aviary School for Birds.

Disappointed, Dazel mused about the lengthy hours that stretched before her. “I know,” she decided merrily, “I’ll go to meet my old neighbours.”

Dazel had recently moved out of the pond community where she had lived for years. The pond housed families of frogs and a black swan apart from the insects and ants who lived on the premises.

One of the reasons she had moved into the artificial pond in Wiz Rooster’s backyard was because the pond had become too crowded and she felt she needed more privacy and space. Yet, there were times she missed the camaraderie of the pond fraternity. Thus, excited to revisit her old home she flew towards the pond.

“Hello Swain,” she cried, thrilled to meet the black swan.

“Hello, Dazel,” the raven-coloured swan replied. “What brings you here on a Sunday?”

“Just thought I’d visit my old neighbours. The weekdays are usually so busy and I have been missing everyone here,” said Dazel, smiling pleasantly. “Where is everyone else?”

“The frogs are just leaving for a picnic on the coast,” Swain said.

Dazel waved to Ribbit, the young frog who had been one of her dear friends. The young frog had always treated Dazel as his confidant.

“Hello Dazel,” Ribbit greeted the duck with a beaming smile. “It’s good to see you, dear friend.”

But just then, one of the other frogs summoned him from afar and Ribbit bounded away with the words, “I’ll see you soon, Dazel. Hope you can come to visit us again.”

Dazel waved enthusiastically to Ribbit’s brothers and sisters. When they didn’t wave back she murmured to herself, “I guess they are too busy packing things for their outing.”

“Hello Mr and Mrs Fergie,” Dazel greeted Ribbit’s parents warmly.

“Hello Dazel,” they smiled kindly. “You look well!”

“Come along children,” Mr Fergie hollered to his clan of croaking frogs. “We are getting late. We need to be back before sundown.”

“Bye Dazel!” waved Ribbit and the whole clan hopped away chattering among themselves. Dazel raised her wing in a gesture of farewell.

“Why didn’t they invite me?” Dazel thought to herself as she looked at their retreating forms. Ribbit, the young frog, and his family had always been close to Dazel when they had lived together at the pond. The frogs had always been glad to invite her for all the excursions they planned.

But it swiftly dawned on her why she had been left out. She was no longer their neighbour. In fact, ever since Dazel had moved out of the pond they had hardly met.She met Swain the swan at the Aviary School every day but the others, she realised, had literally become strangers.

“I’ll be seeing you at school tomorrow, Dazel,” said Swain. “I’m spring cleaning my area of the pond before the frogs get back here.”

“Can I help?” offered Dazel, who loved to organise things.

“Umm…I don’t think you’ll be able to understand my new arrangement,” After a pause Swain added. “Actually I’ve moved to the rocks near the pond bank where you used to live.”

Dazel smiled, “That’s great! I’m so glad you have more space.”

“Yes the red ants have been creating a problem,” Swain whispered. “Remember, we had requested them to be careful about venturing out of the anthill near the pond because the young ants were biting us?” Dazel nodded.

“Well, Ribbit had a quarrel with a few ants and they bit him. So now the frogs and ants are at loggerheads,” Swain explained. “There’s a new fight every day,” the swan chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. Dazel smiled. All this seemed so foreign to her now.

“Well then, I’ll be seeing you in school,” said Dazel and she flapped her wings to take off. But Swain was already engrossed in cleaning up the weeds floating around the pond bank.

That evening when Dazel arrived at the picturesque picnic spot near the lake bank, her friends, Din Din the dinosaur and Delma the dolphin, were already there and had set up an appetising array of fresh fruits on one of the rocks.

“Look what I got!” Din Din exclaimed when he saw Dazel. “A chocolate sauce specially prepared by my mother. We can dip these mango and orange slices in it…Yummm!” he said smacking his lips.

“Hi guys!” Dazel waved. “Something strange happened today,” she blurted out. She began to retell her experience of visiting her old neighbourhood.

“I felt like such a stranger. As if I never lived there before. I used to be so close to the frogs but I felt so cut off. I used to be in charge of the pond maintenance but they seem to be well settled with their new arrangements,” she ended as she relayed her story.

There was a moment’s silence; just the music of the silvery lake water lapping against the rocks could be heard.

“Dazel, I think everyone moves on. Things can’t remain as we left them. After all you also moved on at your new home in a new environment,” Delma finally said in a sensible, gentle way.

“Yes…I guess,” replied Dazel, but she looked downcast.

“Come on, Dazel,” said Din Din. “Cheer up! Life is all about ‘to live and let live’!” and Dazel smiled in agreement.

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