The Life of a Bird

There is a slight chill in the air, now. The time is coming to move on. The flock has been meeting in order to decide where we will migrate to this year. A decision has to be made, because the place that my flock normally migrates to has been taken away.

         What happened to our normal location, you may ask? Well, first of all they started cutting down all the trees that we lived in. Then they put up a large building. I think they call it a store. 

         We found new places along the roof of the store to build our nests and live out the winter. Unfortunately, when we sent out our scouts, they found out that the areas of the store that we used got destroyed, somehow. I think it was from a storm. At any rate, we now have a decision to make. 

         The scouts went out again today. They came back with more bad news. They flew out as far as they could and found nothing. They are going to go back out in a couple of days, and they will find someplace to stop for the night. They will have to fly out farther to find a place for our flock to spend the winter. 

         Our flock is all very worried about the winter coming on. We need to begin migrating soon, but so far we have no place to go. The chill in the air has started getting colder. We will have to move very soon. The older members of our flock are starting to complain about the cold.

         Oh, no! Our scouts have not yet returned and there was a light frost last night. Two of the older members are sick today due to the cold. If we don’t leave soon, I am afraid that we may lose some of our flock members. 

         Finally, the scouts have returned. Well, most of them, anyway. A couple stayed back to prepare the place that they found, and a few were lost to (gulp) cats. It will be a long and dangerous flight to the place that they have found, but it was the best they could do.

         The day to migrate has finally arrived. We are leaving the moment that we see sunlight on the horizon. I just overheard some of the others in the flock talking. It seems that we have lost a member of the flock. One of the old ones died in her sleep last night. We are all sad at the news, but we must begin our migration regardless. 

         The flight has begun. I am toward the back of the flock because I am not a strong flier, but at least I am not as slow as Edward. He trails completely behind the rest of the flock and flies alone. I worry about him back there, but my parents would be very angry if I fell behind the flock to keep him company. 

         The word just trickled back that we are going to have to stop for the night. It will be a cold night, but we have nowhere to hunker down. We are going to have to make do with sleeping on a wire tonight. I think people call them high lines sometimes, but I’m not completely sure.

         Morning again. It isn’t as easy as it looks, sleeping on lines. I am still tired from yesterday’s flight, but I have no choice but to continue. Edward has just confided to me that he doesn’t think he can make the entire flight. I told him that he will be fine, but in reality I’m thinking that he may be right.

         Crap! My parents would be made at me for saying that, but I am upset. We lost another one of the old ones. She had been steadily falling behind all day, and suddenly she just fell from the sky. We don’t do that unless we are dead. I looked back to see if Edward saw, but I couldn’t see him. I sure hope that he is still back there.

         Another night of sleeping on lines and wires. Another cold night. Oh, great, it just started to snow. It’s really early for snow, but there it is. This isn’t going to be a good thing.

         We lost three more of our flock during the night. The freak snowstorm was just too much for them. We are all broken hearted over losing so many members of our flock, but we must push on.

         Edward is still with us, but I don’t know for how much longer. He is having so much trouble keeping up. The leaders of the flock are pushing us to fly harder and faster and farther than we are used to. Even my parents are beginning to have a problem with it.

         The scouts are telling us that this should be our last night having to sleep on the wires. We should reach the spot that they found by tomorrow night. At least some of them stayed to make the framework for the nests. We can make them our own after we rest for a couple of days.

         Edward finally caught up with us. I knew it was him because I could hear him crying. He was scared that he wouldn’t be able to keep up tomorrow. I assured him that he would do fine, but secretly I’m just not so sure.

         Oh, no. They are pushing us to get up already. The sun isn’t even visible yet. It’s still dark, yet they want us to start our flight now, in the dark. I made sure that Edward was awake, but he said he wasn’t coming. He just can’t go anymore. He doesn’t have any parents because they both died a while back. A cat got his mother, and a little boy with a slingshot got his dad. I found my parents and told them about Edward. They said they were sorry, but it was all they could do to keep up with us at the moment.

         We flew away, leaving Edward behind. As a matter of fact, we left several members of our flock behind. Some were like Edward, just too tired to go on. Some were sick. Others were mourning the lost ones. I kept looking back until they were out of sight.

         Spring has come and we are about to migrate home. I remember those that we lost, and I hope to find some of the ones that we left behind, but that isn’t likely. When I asked my parents why, they told me that is just the life of a bird.