“It is not fair” said Abdul, “not fair at all.”
“What is?” responded Falconio.
“I repeat, it is simply not fair” replied Abdul.
“What?”
“That I cannot take off into yonder space.”
“Excuse me, I have heard of the stratosphere. But where the hell is yonder space?”
“Let me explain, Bird-brain, that yonder space is up there.”
“In that case,” said Falconio waxing eloquent, “why don’t you say ‘up there’? In fact, up anywhere will do, as long as it is off the ground, right?”
“How is it that you are so pedantic?”
“Ah, is that like being pedestrian or pederastic or … … um, my alter-ego seems to be running out of puff.”
“Listen, I don’t want any religious mumbo-jumbo like altars and altar boys intruding into my thoughts.”
“What! Are you a priest now? I was referring only to my subconscious self, my inner spirit who guides and drives me….”
“Wait a minute! You make as much sense as an egg burnt onto a hot plate. You are not offering me any food for thought.”
“Well, Falconia says….”
“Who on Earth is Falconia?”
“My inner self.”
……………………
Then said Falconio, with bitterness in his voice, “You seek to deny your nature by breaking out of your Earthbound cocoon. Yet, you deny my nature by denying me freedom and the right to view my surroundings in all its beauty. Take the hood off my head and unchain me. Am I in Guantanamo?”
………………………..
“What ho, Cocko!” said the Djinn to Abdul. Turning to Falconio the falcon, the Djinn added “Beg pardon, my feathered friends, for treating you as subsidiaries. But it is Ab here who has a problem.”
RAJA ARASA RATNAM 