Tiki

'Why is your gift so big?' asked John.

'Nothing big. Just suitable to take away your loneliness,' said Rita, John's elder sister.

'Who said I am lonely?'

'You are hardly seen outside your favorite two places. One of them is this sofa surrounded by these lonely four walls & the other one is your tennis court surrounded by nets that helps you keep people outside.'

'What? I also go to other places. Don't you know that?'

'No, you don't. You have no friends. You don't allow anyone inside the house. Right after the day, when father and mother passed away, you have enclosed yourself between our home & tennis court. It was an accident, and none of that was your fault. You survived, and they went to heaven. Stop blaming yourself for that.'

'It is my fault. I insisted. Dad & Mom were coming to my tennis match. I survived. I am responsible for their death.'

'For nine years, you have shut yourself in. You were one of the youngest teenage tennis prodigies and now look at you. You have lost it all due to this blame you put on yourself.'

'I thought we are here to celebrate Christmas. You are altogether in a different mood right now. Where is Max?'

'He went to pick-up Charlie from his piano class. They will be here soon for dinner.'

'God blessed you with a pretty husband, Max, and a cute little angel in the form of a son, Charlie. How beautiful, isn't it?' said John with a smile.

'Don't divert the talk. You are my responsibility. Leave this enclosure and embrace the beauty of this world,' said Rita.

'I have seen it all. The world praises the winner, and there is no room for any losers. I lost mom & dad due to my fault. I am not worthy of any place in this world. Let me live the rest of the life the way it is.'

'So much self-pity. Overcome that to find your true potential. Don't waste such a talent for which our parents sacrificed a lot. You fulfilled the dream of our parents in childhood. Don't give up on that dream.'

'Are you high on something?'

'Yes, I am high on my expectations of you.'

'Talk something that makes sense.'

'It is not me with meaningless talk. You are talking senseless and living like it too.'

'Oh, god! Where is Max? Please come early, I can't bear this lecture.'

'No one is going to save you from this. You need to overcome this self-imposed exile and interact with the life outside this enclosure.'

'I will live like this. If it wasn't for Charlie, I would definitely cancel all the future Christmas dinner.'

'Like you can. Christmas is the only time of the year that we are at home. I promised dad on his death bed to take care of you, and I will do that. Whether you like it or not.'

'Okay, Okay. Let us exchange the gifts first.'

'Okay,' said Rita, and then she stood up and went near the gift that she placed outside the door of the house when she came in. She brought it inside the house. Rita carefully enclosed the gift in a cloth. 

There was no suspense about the gift. 

The cage-like outer structure with the sound of a bird was enough of an indicator. It was Cockatiel, an Australian parrot. Rita brought from it from the recent trip to Australia. 

'I don't know how to take care of them.'

'You will learn it, genius.'

'No, Sis. I can't take it. I don't want any gifts this year. Let it be.'

'You have to take care of this beautiful parrot.'

'I don't like to put anyone in bondage. Especially this beautiful bird. Open the cage and let it roam freely in nature.'

'Okay, genius. I anticipated that,' saying that Rita opened the door of the cage.

'Thank you,' said the Cockatiel in a softer & sweeter voice while walking its way out of the cage.

'So, it talks,' said John

'Yes, Charlies specially trained Tiki for three months in Australia. You will enjoy the company.'

'Sorry, Sis. I can't. I am not a good caretaker. Plus Charlie will miss his Tiki,' said John by pointing his finger to Cockatiel.

'You can keep it, Uncle. I won't miss it. I trained Tiki for you,' Charlie said while entering the house with his father, Max. Charlie whistled and extended his forefinger of the left hand. Tiki flew and sat on that thin finger of Charlie. 

'Charlie, Home,' spoke Tiki with a soft voice.

'Yes,' said Charlie while moving towards his Uncle, John. 

'Uncle, extend your forefinger. Tiki will sit there,' said Charlie.

John could not deny to Charlie. Charlie was the only one that John loved and cared for so much. 

Tiki took its place on John's forefinger and uttered 'Thank you.'

'Charlie, Tiki is beautiful, you should take care of it. I am not capable of it.'

'Yes, you are. Mom said to me that you always dreamt of having a pet but the tennis game kept you away from that dream. You are capable....'

John was not able to grasp the other two sentences that came out of Charlie's mouth. John remembered his childhood dream of having a talking parrot. 

But the dream of making it big in Tennis became the priority. After the accident of his parents, self-blame buried all of John's remaining dreams. 

'Okay, I agree nephew. But on one condition: you will teach me how to take care of Tiki.'

'Agreed.'

'Okay, Let's eat then,' suggested Max as he was hungry and unaware of the serious discussion between the brother and sister.

They ate and talk. More like Charlie did all the talking, and the rest of them listened. Charlie talked about the never-ending stories of the adventure in Australia. He described all of those incidents in detail. It appeared like he was reliving them from the dining table. John saw a spark of life inside the eyes of Charlie. 

For the next three days, Charlie taught his Uncle the art of taking care of Cockatiel. John learned quickly. Rita and her family bid farewell to John. 

John was now the lone caretaker of Tiki. 

Rita was betting that Tiki will help John overcome the self-blame and loneliness. Rita had all planned it out. She hired a cute veteran that will visit Tiki every week. This visit would force John for human interaction inside his villa, usual shut-off for others.

Rita will help his brother to live a perfect life, one step at a time.