A grand vista of browns, grays, and greens wheeled below Tael in patchwork glory. High above any danger, he soared with the joy of flight, the wind whistling around him as warm air currents buoyed his wings. The thermal currents lifted him higher and higher above the cliff face.
Slap!
Piercing pain ripped through his heart. The shock made him fold his wings momentarily, and he began to plummet toward the earth. A distant popping noise reached his ears, as the emerald forest rushed toward him at an alarming rate.
Forcing his wings open, Tael checked his fall and struggled against the fire in his breast, the great wings pumping air desperately. The wind that had been his ally, was now his enemy. Fatigue overcame him suddenly. The green and brown swirls were alternating with short bursts of darkness. Every stroke of his wings became sheer agony.
The feathers of his body were slick with red streaks as his life slowly drained, then scattered droplets into the air. Tael plunged and flared, plunged and flared... his mind was numb with shock, his breathing forced, his wings weakened. Flying, once a joy, was now a conscious effort.
His mind refused to yield to the encroaching darkness. "Push! Push!" He forced the huge wings to move... Rhythm faltered, as the trees grew nearer.
Slap!
This one broke his wing, and it folded against his body. It fluttered uselessly against him like a tarp broken loose in the wind, as he fell faster. Gravity yanked him from the skies, wind whistling past him as the green forest reached up to receive him. He summoned one last Herculean effort, and tried to check his fall... to no avail. The forest received her child.
Crackle. Whap!
Pain. Silence. Darkness... the scent of pine lingered.
"Screee!" His cry was weak.
Crackling brush marked the awkward progress of something big. Small animals scattered before it with cries of alarm. It crashed to a halt, and lifted Tael into the air by a talon.
"Hey Andy, look. I shot an eagle!"
"Wow! You sure are a good shot, Dick. I'm impressed!" The answer from a distance.
"Thanks!"
"Hey! There goes a fox. C'mon!"
Tael dropped to the forest floor with a thud. Crackling brush retreated from him. Every sound faded to nothing.
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :(
Reviewed by Peter Schlosser
5/16/2009
This is a wonderful description....and tragic. When I was a boy, I once shot a bird. I didn't think I'd have any chance of hitting him. Then he plunged to the ground and I walked over to him. He was trying so hard to hang onto life. Mouth gasping for final breaths. Tenacious. I felt horrible about it. I had to give him the mercy shot and I resolved never to kill anything again. And I never have. Great story. Very touching!!
A book of nature inspired poems and essays, written from the heart and soul of a life-long nature, animal, and wilderness lover, and dedicated to today’s children - Earth's only hope for a better tomorrow.
This book won 'The Poetry Category'
Explore the mystery of how nature makes unexpected gifts of creative wonders to an unsuspecting caregiver one late night and early morning in southeastern Georgia, USA.
