Today I found something more than rocks or leaves by the lake shore as our family took our walk.  We're camping here at Lake Whitney for the weekend; it's our last "big fling" before school starts back up on Monday.  We will head back home sometime tomorrow.  We will be home by tomorrow night.

I found a nest  In it was a tiny half-naked bird.  It had a long, wobbly stick of a neck atop a funny looking body.  Its beak was open, as if it were begging for food.  That was when I noticed the bloody gash on its back.  It had been hurt somehow.  I wanted to help it.

I told my parents about this bird, but they told me to leave it alone, especially since it was injured.  I kept insisting that they go and look at it for themselves; I wouldn't leave them alone.  They finally gave in; we then walked back to the area where I'd found this bird.  Amazingly enough, the bird was still there.  It looked so frightened and scared being there in its nest all alone.  

Dad told me it was a baby black swan.  He told me that its parents probably weren't far away; if the parents caught me messing around its nest, more than likely, they would probably chase me and try to attack me by beating me with their wings or pecking me on the head, anything to drive me away from their baby.

After a while, we got busy cooking hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire; doing so made me forget of the injured baby swan.  Yet when I ate my meal, I couldn't help thinking about the injured bird.  I wondered what I could do to help it; it probably wouldn't survive on its own.  I felt sad at the possibilty of it dying out here in the open, with nobody to help it or get it to safety from predators.  Mom and dad remained firm in their answer: I was not to go to the nesting site; I was to leave the baby swan alone.  I was not even allowed to touch it.  

I reluctantly agreed to listen to their wishes.  I sat with dad as we watched the sun go down and the first of the stars appearing in the darkening sky.  The air was still, calm, beautiful.  A fat moon was rising in the east.  When they finally decided to go to bed, I sat outside the tent, still looking up at the sky, thinking.  I was mainly thinking about the baby swan back in its nest.  I had to do something.  That was when I decided to venture out on my own and try to help the injured bird.

~To be continued.~