TOUCH THE SKY

TOUCH THE SKY

Once upon a time in the countryside of California there lived two friends - Chippy and Becky.

Chippy was a little sparrow. He has been living in that almond tree since he was an egg. He lived with his parents and his little brother. Chippy was a reckless fellow. He follows what he believes and do what he thinks is right. A wild soul he was.

A little barn stood just steps away from Chippy’s almond tree. There were all kinds of animals – like horses, sheep and hens in that barn. It was Chippy’s little hideout whenever he had a fight with his mom. It was in the barn where Chippy met Becky.

It was a rainy day. Becky had just stepped in to the barn for the first time. She had this confused and innocent look in her eyes. She seemed quite different from the other chickens. Seeing her, all the other chicks surrounded her, made fun of little Becky and called her ugly.

 Chippy was the guy who came to her rescue. He did his best to protect the little soul. When the skies cleared, Chippy plucked a flower from the tree, gave it to her and smiled. “Let’s be friends” He said. Since that day they became the inseparable dynamic duo of their neighborhood. You could see them stuck to each other like glue 24*7. You could always find them laughing and giggling, engaging in all kinds of mischiefs, immersed in their own little utopia.

They had the kind of friendship the entire world envied

Both Chippy and Becky were dreamers

The kind of dreamers

Whose thoughts knew no bounds

Whose dreams weren’t confined to limits

They would talk about distant galaxies

Bottomless oceans and infinite lands

As if they had visited them all

They are not prisoners of reality

Nor the preys to time and space

They are what the world calls

Superheroes

Magicians

Sorcerers

But they were just HARD WORKERS

It all started on that fine morning. Just as usual, Chippy and Becky were playing in the barn, when they heard a group of ravens talk among themselves. “Today I heard a human say, ALL BIRDS FIND SHELTER DURING RAIN, BUT THE EAGLE AVOIDS RAIN BY FLYING ABOVE THE CLOUDS. Haha, even those humans consider Eagles as great. I wish I could be like that to. Flying without limits in the sky. I wish I was an Eagle” the Ravens talked among themselves.

Those words sparked something inside their hearts. From that moment, our little dreamers took it up as their destiny, as their purpose in life – to glide above the clouds on a stormy night. They tried all kind of tricks. But the task seemed impossible for the two friends. Becky didn't know how to fly. She has never seen the other chicks fly and so she never thought about learning to fly. Chippy on the other hands was an expert in flying. But his little wings were too frail to battle against the gushing winds during the storms. Every time he just came down crashing to the ground. An utter failure they were.

But the heroes - Chippy and Becky are different. They would never ever give up. So, they decided to go on a quest - a quest to make the impossible possible. They packed up their bags and stood at the barn door. All the other animals mocked and laughed at the duo. But they were more concerned about something else. “Hey Chippy, I know we are going on a quest, but where are we going?” Becky asked scratching her head. They literally had no idea where to start. So Chippy did something extraordinary. He took a nearby stick from the ground, closed his eyes and threw it as far as he could. The stick landed a few steps away. That way Chippy pointed to the stick. “That's where we are going” he said with puffed out chests. Soon they began their journey in the direction of the stick. They walked for days. Whenever it was a dead end, Chippy threw a stick in the air and followed it without an ounce of doubt.

After 3 days of endless journey, Chippy and Becky finally ended up in front of a beautiful pond. The moment Becky saw the rustling water she threw her backpack and jumped right into it.

“Wow! I missed you. I missed your gentle touch. Your scent and the way you glow” she sang while dunking her head into the pond.

 “Don't be such a show off Becky. It's just been 3 days” Chippy scoffed hearing her reactions.

“You don't understand Chippy. I love water. All the other chicken in the barn hate water. But I'm different. Sometimes I look up at the night sky and hear a voice telling me that I belong up there. But when I try to flap my wings, I just end up crashing down. I think something is wrong with me Chippy” Becky said, trying her best to control the tears that were in the verge of bursting out.

“Ya look at me, I'm smaller than a full-grown mango. I can't fly continuously for even 3hrs cause my teeny tiny wings would wear down. But every night I dream of reaching the stars and the moon. I dream of sliding through those fluffy clouds. I dream things that are impossible for me to do. Every living bird near the barn thinks I’m a weirdo, a screwup, a crack head. We are different, but we are the good difference Chippy said, while skillfully wiping the tears that threatened to fall.

There heartfelt conversation came to an abrupt stop when they heard giggles from the nearby bush. Soon a bunch of birds emerged from the bushes laughing their hearts out.

“What’s so funny?” Becky asked with a tint of anger in her voice.

“Well, we have never seen someone as dumb as you before. You are indeed born to glide through the clouds and reach distant lands, but you talk as if you are some sort of a chicken” One of the birds said.

“I know I look ugly. But that doesn’t mean I’m not a Chicken. I’m a chicken. Do I look like an idiot to you?” Becky asked teary eyed.

The bird group soon started laughing again.

“Enough” came a voice.

“Come here little girl” the oldest bird in the group called Becky.

“What do you see?” she asked while pointing to their reflection in the pond.

That's when Becky realized the miracle that laid before her eyes.

“We look exactly the same!” Becky shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Yup we are. Its because you are one of the us. You are not a chicken. You are a part of the great geese families that fly farthest above the clouds, through storms and seas, through distant lands to escape the cruel winter and return back to our mother land” She said with a loving smile.

“Does this mean you……. I mean we fly above the clouds even during the storm?” Becky asked with excitement filling her voice.

“Yes, my little one. We fly way above the clouds. We just landed here to rest. You can join us little girl” the old goose said.

“I would love to ........... but I don't know how to fly” Becky replied scratching her head.

Soon a round of laughter filled the space.

The old goose shushed the younger geese and said “Well, I can teach you. It might take some time and lots and lots of hard work. But I’m sure you can pull this off. From now on you are one of us - family and family always sticks together”

Endless joy filled Becky's mind.

She ran towards Chippy and hugged him tight and said, “Chippy did you heard that! she said I'm family. I have a family now! I don't have to be an outcast anymore. She said I could fly. I could reach the clouds” Becky kept on rambling with happy tears flooding her eyes.

Chippy gently wiped away her tears and said “So my little angel finally found her family huh! Stop crying you idiot. Now go. Fly as high as your hearts desire. But don't forget me, my best friend” Chippy said while trying his best to hide his tears.

He pushed Becky towards the goose and said “This girl is so dumb. So please be patient with her and teach her how to fly” Chippy said.

The old goose nodded with a smile.

Chippy hugged his best friend one last time and began to fly away.

By now the hidden tears were rolling down endlessly. Why wouldn't they. Becky was his best friend ever since he knew. He was a weirdo and crack head. But Becky made sure he wasn't alone. Not even once. She followed her with her dorky smile and now even she left him. The sadness filled his mind. Soon Chippy landed on a nearby almond tree that reminded him of home and decided to rest for the day.

The next day, he looked ahead and found a crooked path going up the hill. Something deep in his heart told him to follow the path and so he did.

“Will it really give me what I need? Is this the right path?” millions of questions circled in his mind.

But Chippy was sure about one thing.

Nothing that can stop him from reaching his dreams!!!

The crooked path took him uphill to the peak of a mountain. After a week of endless flying and lonely nights, Chippy finally reached the end of the road and there stood before him a huge tree. There was a little board beside the tree that said “TALLEST TREE IN THE WORLD”. The height of the tree stretched far beyond what his eyes could grasp. The tree’s presence brought a sense of peace into little Chippy. It felt like this tree could be the answer he was seeking all along. But the tree was in deep slumber. Chippy tried his best to wake him up from his slumber. He shouted at the top of his lungs, pecked its bark did all sort of tricks but the tree didn't budge. An entire day passed but there wasn't any sign of hope. Finally, when the moon filled the night sky the tree woke up from his slumber.

“Hey little sparrow! What are you trying to do huh? Can’t you let this old man sleep? Where did you come from?” the grumpy old tree spouted.

“I just wanted to talk to you………… I could feel deep down in my heart that you could help me reach my dream” Chippy said in a humble tone.

“I don't know what you are talking about and I don’t wanna hear anything about your petty dream. So now go away, shoo shoo” the tree said.

“My dream is to glide way above the sky even on a stormy night” Chippy said with a hint of pride in his voice.

“Hahaha! you must be joking right. Look at you, you are teeny tiny like an apricot. What made you think you could ever do that. Give up on all these nonsenses and off you go” the tree said trying his best to drive away the little sparrow that stood in front of him.

“It might sound crazy to you. But I don’t care. I don't care whether I look like an idiot, a dumb or anything else. But I won’t go back. I won't go back to that routine thing people called life. I won't do the same thing every single morning for the rest of my life.

Spending my entire life making sure I don’t starve myself to death. Finding a mate whether I like her not, ensuring that the lineage runs. Putting up with crazy traditions, no questions asked, just so there are fake tears near my coffin – living the exact same life of the millions of others and billions who lived before.  

Nope, I won't go back to that life.

I will reach my dream.

Even if I fail a million times

Even if I die trying

I wont regret it.

So please help me.

All I need is a little help.

All i need is someone to believe in me.

Someone to trust me.

When I doubt myself

All I need is one person to smile

And say it’s alright, you can do it.

All I need is a friend!

Chippy blurted out. The years of hidden emotions came rushing out under that beautiful moonlight.

“Haha, you're just like me little boy. Standing alone, being different, getting caught up in the turmoil of following our dreams and being loved. You know what I chose? I chose different.

Look at me! I stand tall and huge amidst others. When the other trees made sure to live in groups, I stood alone. Sometime they were jealous of me and sometimes they pitied me. But none of them mattered because the way I view the world is different. Once you reach the sky, you are bound to be alone.

But I will help you. You know why? at this point, all I need is a friend like you too” the tree said with a smile.

The joy that filled Chippy that night was something that couldn’t be expressed by mere words. He jumped up and down, did all sorts of somersaults and the hugged the tree hard.

“So, how are going to help me?” Chippy asked.

“Lift up your eyes. Can you the see the tip of my bark? I’m sure you can’t. From today, you are going to practice reaching the tip and try flying from there”

“That's it? That's easy” Chippy scoffed.

“Don't take it lite little guy. It's not the same there. At that height you won’t be able to breathe. The wind power would be strong. Everything will be against you. So, you should practice little by little everyday”.

“Till the day you reach your dream you can live with me” The tree extended one of its branches.

Chippy happily climbed onto it and closed his eyes for a good night sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a huge day for him.

Since that day Chippy got up early in the morning everyday and practiced till midnight. He started by jumping from one branch to another and tried his best to reach as far as possible. The higher he went the harder it was for him to breathe. It took him nearly 2 weeks before he could reach the tip.

From there it was a different kind of hurdle. When he spread his wings the gushing winds pushed him to the ground. He tried day and night, tried all sorts of tricks to fly and after 3 weeks of bruises and wounds he learned to fly against the brutal winds.

Finally, the day of the storm arrived. The dark clouds filled the sky. Howling winds filled the air. All the birds rushed to their nests running away from the impending danger.

“You can do this little guy” the tree said with a smile.

Chippy began his mission. He hopped on from one branch to another. He fell down a few times. But he dusted himself up and continued to climb. While he was almost near the tip, he could see that he was going through the dark clouds. The thunders and lightening sent shivers through his spines. But the branches of the tree protected him from the rain that could have soaked his wings.

By the time he reached the tip he was way above the storm clouds. The world took a 180 turn. The world below the clouds was dark, gloomy and frightening. But above the clouds there was an unexplainable peace that existed all around. The sky was clear like the sea.

Chippy took a deep breathe, stretched his wings and glided through the sky. The sense of freedom, the sense of satisfaction and the sense of pride that filled his heart at that moment was priceless. Happy tears were already rolling down his cheeks. He smiled and cried like an idiot that day. He glided through the beautiful rainbow that adorned the sky. He did it. He did the impossible. He felt like he had conquered the world. He glided through the sky for hours.

There were a few eagles who were shocked and surprised at the sight of Chippy.

“Hey guys I'm real. You're not dreaming” Chippy mocked those eagles and flew away.

In the distant he saw a group of goose flying. Chippy made his way towards them. And there was Becky, flying as if she owns the sky. Both the friends began crying seeing each other.

“We did it Chippy! We did it! We are flying above the storm!” Becky squealed in delight.

“Yes, my friend we did it” Chippy said with his million-dollar smile.

That day Chippy and Becky made their mad dream a reality.

Whether you are like Becky - not knowing the great potential that is hiding inside your broken heart

Or

 like Chippy - a soul that dreams the impossible.

All you need is

a little faith

tons of hard work and

a voice to whisper in your ears that you could do it no matter what.

Let this story be that voice in the silence

a light in the darkness

to remind you once again that

you can do it my dear friend 

Immense wealth or endless fame

Eternal love or just peaceful days

You can reach all your dreams

you can achieve anything and everything

You can touch the sky my friend!!!