BIRDS

Birds
copyright SEPT 2008
Wordcount: 966
Written for a reason.



Once upon a time, Birds couldn't fly.


Everyone of them looked exactly alike, and everyone of them looked just like a lumpy rock with beady black eyes, and a sharp yellow beak. They had one goal in their lives….to see what was on the island that floated in the clouds above them…and to eat of the windswept seeds that grew there.


And then one day


A lumpy bird began to attach leaves to itself…and it even managed to catch a strong breeze all the way up to the island….soon the other lumpy birds began to do the same…and each bird made its way to the island in the sky…


But on the island, the first bird had taken over….lording it over the other birds…commanding the center of the island for itself, and the best of the windswept seeds as its own… It resented the intrusion of the others and soon it wanted the bounty of the entire island for itself. It would hop up to the other birds, belittling their plumage, and knock them off the island, losing some of its plumage each time. Each fallen bird clutched at a bit of the island's earth with their feet, trying and failing to hold on…and the floating island became smaller and smaller each time, finally dwindling down to just enough room for the first bird and the small tree it chose to perch upon. The First Bird continued to array himself in the finest of the leaves from the little tree, and soon even that tree began to feel as barren as the rest of the island, and slowly, though the First Bird did not know it, little bits of the island trickled out from underneath him, and drifted away on the wind.


And then one day


A strange, new bird landed on the island. Instead of having make-shift wings cobbled together from leaves and twigs, it had taken the time to pull its wings out from its own body, shaping and molding each feather precisely with its beak. It perched on a lower branch on the small tree and respectfully dipped its head in greeting to the First Bird.


"You, there." screeched the First Bird, ruffling his tree-leaf wings in genuine agitation. "You are not welcome here. This is my island. You can't have it. You can't stay. It is MY island."


"Stay?" mused the New Bird as the sun glinted sleekly off of its lovely wings. "I'm afraid you've got me all wrong." said the New Bird.


"Well, this is my island. I was here first, and you and your freakish attempts at feathers aren't welcome." huffed the First Bird.


"I'm only stopping to catch my breath." replied the New Bird in a friendly tone. "I have no intention of remaining here."


Now the first bird was truly affronted. The island in the sky was the goal of every true bird….all of the other birds had dreamed their whole lives about living there forever and eating the windswept seeds, and the First Bird told the intruder this in no uncertain terms. "Obviously, "snarled the First Bird, 'You are as stupid as your feathers are ugly."


The New Bird took his time cleaning his feathers and let the wind ruffle them gently, taking little notice of the First Bird's rude behavior. His wings weren't as showy as the First Bird's twigs and leaves…but the New Bird was too polite to say that at least HIS feathers didn't fall off every time he moved.


The calm silence of the intruder only agitated the First Bird that much more, and he began to push and peck at the New Bird. The New Bird cocked his head at the First Bird and hopped gracefully out of the way, with the merest flap of his wings to keep him balanced.Meanwhile, every ill-tempered attack caused the First Bird to lose more of its accumulated plumage…and each hop and peck also caused a little more of the tiny island to crumble and drift off beneath his feet. The New Bird noted this, and finally, he tired of the First Bird's petty tantrums.


"As I said, I only stopped to catch my breath, and as I said, I have no intention of remaining here." the New Bird declared forcefully.


"But Why NOT?!!!" whined the First Bird, utterly exhausted and very much confused. "This is the island in the sky…You are a bird…you are SUPPOSED to want to stay here forever and eat the windswept seeds. Only the very best windswept seeds can be found here, but only the master of this island -- and that would be ME!!! -- is entitled to eat them."


The New Bird shook his head, and stretched the well-made wings he had extended so much time and effort on. "Certainly the windswept seeds here are very nice." He agreed. "However, there are plenty of seeds out there. I don't need the ones on this island."


"What?!!!" shrieked the First Bird in disbelief. Such a thought had simply never occurred to him. "That can't be right. The island in the sky is the Most Important Thing there is…and since it belongs to me, I am the Most Important Bird on the Most Important Thing there is."


The New Bird eyed the First Bird sadly, before stretching his lovely useful wings and flying into the air. "You are one very small bird on one very small island. There are many other birds and many other islands…and there is far more to the sky than just you."


As the New Bird flew off into the joy of the clouds and the light of the sun, the flying island crumbled completely beneath the feet of the First Bird, and he fell to the earth below, clutching vainly at the remains of his false feathers.