It was a cold winter in Siberia. There was snow everywhere. Nothing but the white snow enveloped everything. There was no water, but frozen ice on the rivers. No leaf was visible on the trees and they looked as if somebody had painted them white. The sun was also not visible for days. No one wanted to go out during those days, and no food was available anywhere. It was so cold that sometimes I felt as if my blood was clotting inside me. My wings were becoming stiff….

My name is Mizanoff. I had never seen winter before. I was born on a happy spring day and such a terrible winter was a surprise to me. One day I was sitting, shivering at home on a tree. All of a sudden, someone knocked at the door. I opened it slightly. With a gust of snow, Squadino entered. Squadino was my friend. He and I were born on the same day. Sometimes he stayed with me. He asked me for some food. I was sorry because I didn't have any food to give him. He kept silent for sometime and then he said that no bird could survive this bitter winter for long. This was the law of nature. During winter, all the birds from Siberia left for warm areas. He hadn't known about these things before. His grandmother had told him about it. He said that he was leaving for a far-off eastern country named Bangladesh with his friends tomorrow morning. He wanted me to go with him. I agreed instantly because the severe cold and hunger were becoming intolerable to me. He told me to get ready tomorrow in the morning and flew off in the cold.

The next morning I was ready. He came and we started our long flight. At one place, we wanted to stop. This was the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. But our team leader stopped us telling us that we would be late in reaching our destination. Tiredness was beginning to take over our wings and since there was no food, no place to take rest, we felt death was obvious. Suddenly we started to feel the cold lessening and the air becoming warm. Squadino cried out and said, "Minazoff, look down, see what a beautiful lake beneath! It is surprising that it is not frozen and fishes are swimming in it. The grasshoppers are flying on the riverbanks and colorful boats are sailing on the lake."

We went further down and saw fields filled with crops. The leader said that this was our destination. We landed on the ground, happy at last to find that there was nothing except food everywhere. We decided to settle there, eat, and move around all day and rest at night nearby the lake. We were happy there.

At times people with children came in boats to catch fish and collect water lilies. We were not afraid of them. They were our friends. They did not disturb us. They sometimes hurled food at us. We almost forgot the memories of our home in Siberia. One thing that was surprising to us was that the children were very thin! They looked unhealthy. Squadino asked me, "In spite of having such rich paddies, why are these children looking poorly fed?" I could not say anything because I did not know the answer.

We were beginning to enjoy our stay. One day when we were in the fields, all of a sudden, we heard an unusual loud sound: boom, boom, boom! We panicked and flew towards the sky. Though all of us flew up, some of us came down screaming at the top of our voices. I cried out for them. Squadino, my friend. He had gone too! Afterwards, I found out that he and the other birds had been shot dead. Our leader told us that it was not safe for us to stay in the area anymore. The people were shooting indiscriminately. He said, "If we stay here our group will decrease gradually." We started to fly again in search of a safer place. On the way, our leader said that each year, many of us died like this and people enjoyed cooking and eating our flesh.

After hearing these words, I became sad. Squadino hadn't been able to come with me. My eyes filled with tears. I remembered Squadino and all the other birds who were killed by humans. They were cruel.

You can call us migratory birds. You can tell that we are your guests. What harm have we done to you? Why do you shoot at us? We are birds, we are friends, we are not your enemies. Then why do you kill us? Why, why, and why?