Page 50 - Viva Real English 4 : Ebook

7 A Family on the Roof

One evening, my mother called me excitedly from the balcony. I went up and
looked to where she was pointing. I saw an egg among the entwined creepers on
the roof of our patio. I thought it could be a snake’s egg. Sometimes we did spot
snakes slithering among the bushes! But, a snake’s egg could not have been this

big! Then it occurred to me that it could be a peahen’s egg. There were many in our
neighbourhood.

The next evening, my mother told me that
she had spotted another egg. Wonderful
news! This meant we had a regular visitor.
I have always longed for a pet, now I was
lucky to own one!

The next evening I noticed another egg, and
I was sure of our friend’s intentions. She had
decided to make our roof her home! I was
overjoyed. I repeatedly counted the eggs.
The following day was the most memorable –
there were four eggs. The next morning,
I finally saw the peahen. I dropped a few

pieces of bread and roti on to the roof.

I had to wait for twenty-one days for the
eggs to hatch. It had become a daily ritual
to watch the mother bird. I didn’t see her
moving an inch in spite of the sun. On some
days, it rained heavily and I was sure the
bird was cold too. Though it’s nice to have

some showers especially in the hot season,
for the mother hen it was not so.

entwined : twisted together slithering : movement of a snake

patio : an adjoining place outside a peahen : female of a peacock
house for sitting longed : wished

intentions : plans to do something
40