Chapter 158 - One Hundred And Fifty-eight: The Moral Of The Story (1/2)

Maya's point of view

I smiled, but it didn't reach my eyes as I said to Adam, ”Get down to business? No offense sir, but I don't remember doing any business with you” came my comment.

”Really?” He smiled sheepishly too, but the intelligence in his eyes couldn't be hidden. We both were pretending and he knows it.

”Perhaps, I should start with this story first. As a patient, I'm sure my esteem company would keep the boringness away”

Keep the boringness away my butt! The chills from his nerving presence was now making me shiver.

”My story goes like this: Once upon a time, there lived a very rich man who had a son he loved very much.

”He loved this son that he gave him the best in life; expensive clothes, jewelry, best of education, and made sure his health was probably taken care of.

”This son of his was so pampered that he hardly spoke before his requests were fulfilled. The son loved his father in return and things were going smoothly between them until his son started keeping birds.

”The time they spent together became lesser and the man began to wonder what took his son's attention away from him. In the process of investigating, the man discovered it was the birds.

”His son was training birds which took most of his time. At first, the man was annoyed but because he didn't want to make his son sad, he turned a blind eye and even helped finance their grooming.

”Thankfully the birds were of the highest quality proving the fact his son has a good eye for luxury like him, so he supported his hobby until one day.

The son got a new bird.

”Unlike the others, the bird was so beautiful that it turned head wherever his son took it; the bird's feathers were the color of the rainbow.

”The boy was overjoyed, he had never seen a bird like that; it was rare and exotic and so boasted it.

”The bird was so beautiful that everyone desired to have it; his friends, neighbors, and even family members. But the boy was so smart and protective he kept it away from their greedy claws.

But there was a problem.

”As beautiful as the bird was, it had one flaw: it was always sickly. The bird had a weak constitution that even a slight pull at its feather would cause an injury.

”Because of that, his son spent all his time treating it and became his obsession. The communication between father and son diminished greatly and he didn't care - his concern was the bird.

”As if that was not enough, he abandoned the other birds which had been his first loves and focused on the flashy one. He gave it the best food, a golden cage while the others were neglected and they began to die one after the other save one who had a firm determination to live.

”The man was no longer happy with his son, each time he sent an invitation for them to spend time together, it'd turned down or rejected with the excuse of tending to his sick bird.

”He was so angry with his son that he disowned him out of anger. Sending him away with the birds and shekels of silver to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

”The man would rather his son listen to him and live a comfortable life than spend his resources and time on a bird which bright nothing but sorrows to him - he wanted to teach his young son a lesson.

”But the boy bewitched by the bird still didn't listen nor learn from his disownment. He spent heaven and earth on this bird until the money which his father sent him away with was squandered. Yet the boy was not downcast, he still had the bird with him.

”Until one day, there was a knock on his manor which was now improvised due to poverty. He had sold most of his valuable properties to pay some notes, settle his housekeeper - which was now dismissed out of shortage of resources - and treat his precious bird.

”There stood an unfamiliar man who claimed ownership to his bird leaving the boy bewildered. They had an altercation which led to the case being settled in the courtroom.

”Each provided proof and evidence of ownership and which the boy's documents turned out to be fake. He purchased a stolen bird which was owned by a great king from far away.

”The king was a tyrant and deemed the act abominable and thereby sentenced the boy to death; he was to be executed by sword.

”The bird was taken from him and returned to its rightful home while the boy was locked in prison awaiting his beheading.