We love the sun and hot summer days, but when it's too generous with its heat, we need to hide from it in the shade. In front of the house under the treetops is the ideal spot, as the gentle breeze cools the body even further.
Even the summer heat doesn't stop the lively girl Neja. Barefoot, she tirelessly skips around the farm, climbing all sorts of impossible and impossible things, singing loudly to modern tunes by today's artists. This afternoon she was out in the yard again when she was disturbed by the loud screeching of birds. She turned to look up at the sky, where she saw three vultures circling low over the farm. She says they were circling the farm. As we had instructed her to start singing or shouting very loudly and clapping her hands, she did just that. Hawks are known to steal chickens and ducks from farms.
"When I screamed and clapped loudly, they heard me and rose much higher into the sky and also moved away from the farm," Neja explains. But a feeling, or sixth sense as we like to say, kept her going and she went round to the back of the house, where behind a wooden fence the farm animals have their home in a beautiful petting zoo.
Under a canopy of mighty wild chestnut trees, by a marsh that is a paradise for ducks, and with their gaze fixed on Lake Ledava, this is where they spend their time and their mission in life. Behind the fence, they have several containers of food and water, and a few larger containers of water for the ducks to wash and dabble in.
Neja takes a walk in the garden among the animals. While jumping on the big rocks under the trees, her eyes drifted towards a large container of water and she thought she saw something floating on top. She quickly rushed over and sure enough, she saw a small chick floating on the water. She quickly took it out of the water and squeezed it between her hands and to herself to warm it up as quickly as possible, because it was already quite cold and calm. It looked as if it was already slowly leaving for the rainbow.
With her parents not around, she quickly ran into the garden to Aunt Sabina's. They rushed into the house with him, wrapped him in a warm cloth, and cuddled and comforted him. Neja's grandmother was still in the house, and she had a brilliant idea. So they took a hair dryer to dry and warm the chick even faster. Within minutes, it started to show signs of life. He began to chirp and to make beautiful noises like no chick had ever done before.
Once he was dry, he was slowly put on tiny legs, which wobbled a little at first, and then he was back to life. Neja took him back to his mother, who hid him under her luxurious feathers, and immediately gave us all the good news.
Of course we are all happy and proud of her, because saving someone's life is not just something you do - it's a big thing. But above all, I think it is very important that the people mentioned in this story helped each other at crucial moments. Not only that, but also trust; knowing and feeling that you can rely on a person to come to your aid quickly and selflessly in difficult moments. The girls did just that - they saved a living creature by acting with skill and speed. Today it was a chick. Who knows, tomorrow a human being may need their help or ours, which is why it is so important to nurture this noble value of mutual help in our lives.
Jožica Kous, 25. 7. 2025
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