MIGRATING FOR THE WINTER

It is late already. Almost seven pm in the humans time, but here, we don't measure time in hours. To us , time moves more faster than to humans, and it seems the seasons do too. I found some pretty good nectar today, sweet enough that I bookmarked the place, hoping that I'll still remember it by tommorow. I'll show my entire flock that garden, waiting for them to experience what real nectar sweetness is, I am pretty sure that was a rare flower, because it's nectarines weren't shaped like the normal kind, the common kind. It was as if it's special.

As I fly across the vast river towards my nest, I can't help but notice the air is a little bit colder. I can almost feel the breeze through to my bones, a few degrees cooler than yesterday's air.Is the season changing already? I can't help but see squirrels down below hurrying to their tree trunks, carrying loads of nuts, some in their mouths while others in between their lower fur. They must be stocking for the cold season that is upon us already. It is getting darker by the minute and I can see more fireflies emerging, but they seem to be less than yesterday's number, I'm just hoping they weren't caught by those annoying humans. From the corner of my eye, I can see a fox and it's children huddling in a corner, close to some bushes, trying to get warm. It seems the cold has already gotten through to them. I can't help but wonder, "Is it our time to migrate yet?"

I swoop in past the branches and finally arrive at my nest, on the top most branch of this oak tree, very strategic yet in the open for us to gaze at the stars all night long, waiting eagerly for the sun to come up before we continue with our normal day to day activities. I look around and find my little birds, my family, eagerly chirping around, happy that I am home, waiting for me to feed them the worms I have in my beak. They gravel and meekly toss each other, clearly showing strength as I toss them the remaining food for the night. They incessantly continue chirping even though they are full, just trying to use up all the energy they have left. I am beginning to think they might be ready for flight earlier than I expected. We shall do a test run with them tommorow, hoping that they will be ready before our migration. I fall into a deep slumber, the sound of their little noises lulling me to sleep. It was a hectic day and tommorow will even be more tiresome, I have to get enough energy for it.

I am woken by a soft cold substance on my beak. It warms up and trickles down near my nostrils and I immediately stand straight, stretching my wings slightly for balance. I twist my head from side to side, trying to look at the atmosphere above when I finally see it. It's snowing already! Without hesitation, I wake up my family, lightly rolling them over with my beak in attempts to get their attention. If it had began to snow already, then our time had come to move to a warmer place and find a new home. Our time here was done. I had to warn the others too, and start preparing for the big move that would happen the next day. For today, those of us with kids had to train them how to fly, for with our bodies, we can't carry them on our backs as we journey. We all must fly together.

As the day wears off, we all drift to sleep earlier than usual, knowing very well that we'll need every possible shred of energy for tommorow's trip. It would be a long one and luckily, all of my kids learnt to fly pretty quickly. No one was hurt today, just a little bruise on two of them, nothing they can't handle. The snow tonight was heavier that yesterday's, further asserting the fact that we need to move as soon as possible, or else we won't survive the cold.

The D-day is finally here. We wake up earlier than usual and start flying, heading south away from the cold. On our flight, I catch the scent of the previous day's flower and I'm tempted to go and take one last suck at it but I don't want to be left behind. I vow never to forget that flower, and that I'll come back for it when we return for the summer. I look around and see my family happily flying in circles at the center of the flock, and I've never been more content. They must be happy stretching their wings. They actually make a good sight and I can't help but think about the foxes' family. I hope they find somewhere warm enough to stay for the season. We continue flying for what seems like the better half of the day before we finally settle on an oak tree in the middle of a vast field. We decide to camp there for the night, parents setting off to go and look for worms for their children while the children head off in a flock to drink from the river nearby. The air here is a little bit warmer than our previous homes', but that doesn't mean that this is our new home. The cold of the winter will still catch up with us, we still have to move. I just hope that we find a new warmer place to be our home for the next two seasons sooner before my kids get tired from all the flying.They still aren't used to it. For now, I have to get them food before it's too late. We all need to be energized for tomorrow's flight.We still have to continue the search for a new home. The sooner we find one,the better.All we can do now is hope for a better future and spread our wings and fly!!