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Winter 2015

Pets

white-eared bulbul that sits on a bush branch on a cloudy winter day

Bulbul is a bird species. It is a small beautiful bird, with white cheeks, and a very good sound. If you raise it at home, it adds happiness and pleasure to your life. One day I wanted to buy one. By chance our neighbors offered one for sale. Actually, I bought it for a little money and did not imagine the amount of happiness that overwhelmed me after raising it in my house. It turned out to be worth a lot and could not be valued at any price. I fed him by myself when he was young.  He also loved me and loved to eat from my hands and was always attached to me. He liked to eat dates a lot and dates were always in his cage. I also fed him bread, rice, salad, cucumber and tomato. He loved to swim every day, and he always opened his wings, and welcomed me home with a very beautiful song. When he flew, he liked sitting on my shoulder. Every day I used to open the cage door for him to go out, and he would fly inside the house to enjoy some freedom.

One day when he was flying around the house, my father wanted to leave the house and the bulbul was not in the cage and he opened the kitchen door. At the same moment he flew out and left the house. He flew out to the nearest tree in our garden. Some other birds flew with him, but they all went and left him, so he wanted to return. He did not know how to return, so he flew with them and I was watching him all the time. I could not bring him back because it was too loud.

After two days my brother went to our neighbors’ house. They told him that they had found a beautiful bird in their garden and took him and put him in a cage. When my brother saw him, he was amazed and told them that it was the same bird that we raised in our house, so they gave it to him and I remember that day it was very cold in the winter. My brother put him under his jacket to protect him from the cold. When he put him in the cage, he saw me and welcomed me by opening his wings. I fed him some dates that he loved. At that moment I made sure that he was my favorite bird himself and not another bird that looks like it.

One day my family and I went to my grandfather’s house late at night because of an emergency. We had to stay overnight, and I could not believe how the hours passed and the next morning came. Indeed in the early morning I told my family to come back early because I felt something strange inside me. I did not know what it was and I could not explain it. It was the first time for me to leave my bird alone. I found him dead in his cage alone without finding anyone next to him. He was too old, and we had had him for many years. He left me alone. He left a great void in me after his departure. I buried him in the garden of the house.

He went without a return and until now I have not been able to find another bird to replace him after all these years. Four years later, we came to Canada. This is my story of my distinguished and unforgettable bird. He is always in my memory, no matter how long I live and breathe.