The Raven

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Recommended: My childhood memories

When I crept down the stairs of my home and stepped outside, the world slept. It was early, true, and mother had not yet awakened, but I carried the independence of an eager kid turning six the week before. Nothing could stop me. My freshly-washed navy blue school uniform smelled of the salty sea breeze, having been dried in the sun next to the lake, and felt pleasantly warm on my tender skin. My lunch money bulged my right side pocket and jingled with every step. My hair carried the onyx shine of a morning shower and, still wet, felt cool against the summer heat. My eardrums carried the mellifluous melodies of Balam and Julee’s last concert. I had never really noticed before how blissfully beautiful the world was and how much it carried . The dawning sky carried a vast array of jet-black birds and jet-black jets streaking from horizon to horizon. The atmospheric winds carried silvery clouds of various shapes and sizes westward. The rising sun carried the warm radiance of its rays across the land, dimly lighting the empty pockets of space in my path. The earth carried the eight or nine palm trees surrounding my neighborhood swaying in the silent, morning breeze. The trees carried clusters of coconuts, either the sweet prize or the head-splitting arsenal for anyone that dares to climb and collect. The streets, empty from all the usual pell-mell, carried me forward. A midnight blue raven pecked and gnawed a high telephone wire. I flung a pebble at the bird; it gracefully dodged the bullet, circled around its perch, and when I tread far enough away, resumed its gnawing. Stupid bird. I hopped on the back of a rickshaw . “Take me to Jahangirnagar Academy,” I asserted in the most grown-up voice I could manage. ... ... middle of paper ... ...laid flat and heavy against the earth, and its beak zapped off and replaced by a blood-red diamond-shaped outline that curved upwards. Smiling. Trying to remember the ritual, I took my school uniform off and wrapped it around the bird. I cradled the bird in my arms, hummed a five-minute prayer, lifted it high above my head, finished the prayer, and planted a kiss on the cloth. As there was no river in sight to lay the bird adrift, I decided to carry it with me. Spotting movement through the front window, I unhinged the gate to my backyard, crept in through the rear door, shadowed the walls, and sneaked into my room. Lest my mother find out, I hid Captain Planet and the raven deep within the mystical jungles under my bed. I slipped snugly under my warm and cozy blanket, closed my eyes, and smiled. My grand adventure. Nobody noticed, but I always remember.

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