The best actress award

And the award for the best actress goes to...... Bessy Killdeer!!!” The garden erupted in applause as Bessy, the Killdeer bird, proudly glided onto the stage to take the award. Clearing her throat, she started, “I am honoured to receive the Bird’s Oscar for Best Actress... I take this opportunity to thank my numerous fans, my biggest fans, all my fans who have been writing to me—” “MUMMY!!! HELP!!” came an urgent scream and Bessy shook herself awake.

Blow! It had just been a dream, as usual. She sighed. Bessy was a Killdeer bird- a very common bird in North America- the land of Hollywood, where the most talented actors became world famous, admired by millions and millions of people. The birds of the continent had not escaped the Hollywood craze, and had their own movies and awards. And Bessy’s one mission in life was to win the Bird’s Oscar for Best actress. She always wondered when she would become a star.

Her thoughts were interrupted once again by the persistent screams from her baby. “Mummy! Help me catch this worm!” She flew over to find her baby struggling with a worm that was twice as long as himself, and she wrested it out of his beak. “Don’t try to get things that aren’t within your grasp!” she scolded, and led him back to the safety of their nest under the bush.

Her other three babies were walking around clumsily, pecking on the ground. She couldn’t daydream anymore until her husband came back home; she had to look after her babies. She mentally scolded herself. How could she, a mother of four baby birds, dream of becoming an actress? “I have to stop thinking of my stupid ambition”, she muttered to herself, and continued keeping a watch out for anything that spelt danger.

A long time passed, and Bessy was bored and annoyed. Why wasn’t her husband back yet? She glanced around, and that was when she saw a keen pair of green eyes observing her baby birds. It was a cat, waiting to pounce on her little ones! Bessy was filled with horror. She called out to her kids in a high voice to come back to the nest. “Killdeee! Killdeeeeee!”

Her babies knew what her call meant. They came running back to safety. The cat saw them move out of his reach, and then spotted Bessy. Bessy was a daydreamer, but she was a mother too! She could never let any cat come near her kids. She ruffled up her feathers and spread out her tail and wings, to make herself appear bigger.

“Go away Cat!” she said, “Shoo! Don’t you dare come near my little ones!” The cat seemed a little taken aback, and it went a little further away. But it didn’t take its eyes of Bessy and her little nest, where the babies were crouching under the bush. Bessy knew that the cat wouldn’t go away that easily. How could she save her little ones who couldn’t even fly yet? She could only do one thing now: use herself as the bait!

She slowly moved away from her nest, hopping and walking a little haphazardly, drawing the cat’s attention to her. She kept moving away from her nest, hoping that the cat would come after her instead of her babies. “Yoohoo, Mr. Cat!” she called out, “Care to catch me for dinner?”The cat was amazed. What was wrong with this bird? Birds flew away when attacked.

They didn’t hop around on the ground madly like this one, inviting the enemy to attack! But the cat was hungry, and all it wanted was some food. The mother bird seemed a lot bigger than the babies, who seemed to have disappeared under the bush. Why waste a free lunch that was inviting him over? The cat blindly went after Bessy, forgetting all about the babies.

Bessy went on ahead, leading the cat to a nice little dance. She went this way and that, pretending that she couldn’t fly. She spread out her wing in an awkward manner, as if it was broken. The cat was now convinced that Bessy was wounded and couldn’t fly at all, and he could catch her easily. He went after her cautiously, trying to get close enough. Bessy, meanwhile, was putting on her act of a ‘damsel in distress’ and enjoying herself thoroughly.

She was having the time of her life, fooling the cat with her acting skills. The duo were now far away from the nest, and Bessy waited just a moment longer, to let the cat close enough to catch her. Just before he could close his paws on her, Bessy flew out of his reach!

“Ha ha ha! Fooled you Mr. Cat!” she called from above. The cat was furious. “I’ll be back for you one day, you cunning bird!” he screeched, and bounded away angrily. Bessy flew back to her nest, relieved that her babies were safe for the time being. She found her husband back home. “Where did you go leaving our babies alone?” he said, angrily. “What if something had happened to them? Don’t do that again.” Bessy didn’t bother to explain- he had missed out on all the drama anyway. He would never believe her. “Why are you so late?” she asked.

“Because I went to get this – Tickets for the Birds’ Oscar Night tomorrow!” he said gleefully. Bessy was happy, but also felt somewhat subdued when she remembered her dream. But they all went for the award ceremony the next day. The Oscar night was a huge success, as awards were given away to the stars of the evening. Then came the moment to present the Best actress award. Bessy was only half-listening. The Eagle, who was the program host, started speaking.

“Every year, we give away awards to the birds who have used their acting talent in movies to entertain all of us”, he said, “But this time, we will be giving our Best Actress award to a mother bird, who, through her acting skills, managed to save the lives of her children. And the award goes to..... Bessy Killdeer!!” Bessy couldn’t believe her ears. “Hurray for Mummy!!!” cried her children.

The eagle went on to describe how, he had observed Bessy lead a cat away from her nest by pretending to be injured. The entire gathering gave Bessy a standing ovation as she went onto the stage to take her award. Bessy couldn’t speak, though she had dreamt of that beautiful moment many, many times. But her heart was full of happiness as she stood there— the award within her grasp, and her dream fulfilled.

By:Sneha Verghese