My wings fold
out, their tips almost brushing the golden horizon, as I prepare myself for
another day. The glowing orb of the sun appears amid a sky of blue. Its light
casts an empty shadow over the tree on which I am perched. I shiver, not with
the cold but with fear. If I don’t move soon then they might come. Time to go.
I flex my wings, watching the way my velvet blue feathers catch the light. I
extend my wings once more and bend my head down low. Even though I have done
this a thousand times before I always feel nervous on the take off. Looking at
the forest floor way down below me, I watch the ever falling leaves dapple the
ground in their changing array of gold.
I push off
and tuck my wings in, allowing myself to succumb to the strong pull of gravity.
I’m not going to make it I tell myself as I spiral round and round, desperately
trying to open out my wings before I crash into the dense undergrowth. I can’t breathe.
There is no time to even begin to think. Suddenly, my feathers flutter open and
my descent slows. Time to fly up. I furiously beat my wings up and down,
allowing them to fold around the air as I climb. I notice just how close to the
ground I had become. If I had extended my wings a mere split second later I
would be no more.
As I break
the surface of the highest canopy a thousand others do the same around me. They
swoop and caw in enthusiastic joy. I join in, dancing on the wind and allowing
myself to forget about them. It’s just me and I am king of this forest.
Suddenly a
noise like thunder brings me back to my senses. An anguished scream is admitted
just beyond my tail feathers. I swoop round just in time to see a misshapen
bundle of matted feathers drop like a stone into the tree I came from. Dead.
Suddenly the inhabitants of the sky dart around in terrified chaos. I scream in my shrill voice, I cry to the sun.
Our angered shouts drown out the noise of more thunderous booms. Something zips
past my beak, too fast to be a fly too small to be a wasp. It has begun.
I dart about
with all sense of freedom lost. I ignore the carnage around me embrace the
wind, a dangerous thing in most circumstances but today it seems to feel
inviting.
I ride the
wind to a safe distance. I am unable to save the many dying creatures I left
behind. I am safe for now…
Points: 43
Reviews: 6
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