The Flock – Chapter I

I have been trying to decide how to address you, those who have chosen to follow this blog.  Another author addresses his following as Readers.  I do not want to use that so how about Friends?  Sounds good to me!  From now on, I will address you as Friends.

Dear Friends,

  I am excited that you are going to read My First Story –  The Flock.  As I told you in Facebook, it is not my first story that I ever wrote but it is the first one I am putting out there for you to read.  One of the intriguing things I like to learn about is the genesis, or origin behind stories and songs.  I read that Neil Diamond, and mind you I am paraphrasing, wrote Sweet Caroline because he was inspired by a Life Magazine picture of Caroline Kennedy.  Who knew?  Well, I am introducing you to The Flock with a little origin of sorts to it.  One of my best friends ever, Joe, passed away a year ago for cancer.  I met Joe in high school, we only had one class together, Sociology but we really became friends in college. There are a lot of stories about Joe and I that I will leave for another time.  This story is this:  I took a creative writing class in college and I started this story there.  I didn’t complete it but Joe had read it.  Joe always, always asked me if I ever finished that story and I never have – until now.  Joe, this story is for you and all the fun times we had together – we had a blast.  I miss you (and Linda) and I know I will see you again.  Dear Friends, I hope you enjoy the Flock. Gregory Jenkins – May 5, 2020

The Flock – by Gregory Jenkins

  The sky was turning softly from black to charcoal gray above a body of water that eased into a rugged hillside.  Surrounding the pond, reeds and grasses rose toward the sky waiting for the first glimmer of sunlight.  At its edges, each wave of water slides up to its bank and back again.  A small ring of sand, dirt and mud spread from the reeds and grasses toward trees that gather around its edges and get denser up the side of a hill.  The hill rises up from the trees’ center and flattens to a small plateau where more grasses and bushes hold fast to the ground.  At the base of the hill on one end of the water’s edge, a small opening faces the coming sunrise and glimmers of gray light ride the waves inside of it.  On either side of the opening, large brown geese with black heads and white cheeks, quietly tread in the water.  On the side farthest from the cave, a small white goose with black wing tips, turns in the water and slowly paddles toward the small opening in the hill.  The goose’s pink bill has black cutting edges that look like a small black grin.  As it swims, on the horizon the sky behind him displays a small strip of pink.  The day is beginning.

  As the smaller bird glides toward the opening, he raises his head and quietly speaks to the sentries.

  “Good morning boys.  Why not end your shift a little early and find Daniel and ask him to come and talk to me, please.”

  “Sir,” one of the two geese says as they both bend their long necks toward him in a bow of respect and then quietly swim away.

  The white goose continues into the cave.  The water ripples beneath him as he goes deeper into the dark.  He turns slowly and faces the opening he just came through and waits.  The rise and fall of the waves beneath him, add a slight swish to the quiet.  The sky outside is getting brighter and light glimmers off the tiny waves and ripples beginning to add a sparkle to the interior of the cave.  His favorite part of the day is about to occur.  The light outside continues to get brighter and the water shimmers more.  The walls begin to capture flashes from the water and tiny lightning bolts streak throughout the cave.  Suddenly, sunshine falls directly in and a rainbow of color rises from the liquid to the rough edges of the walls painting them in light reds, oranges and yellows.  As the sun creeps higher in the sky, the colors change to greens, blues and purples to shadows once again.  It was then a large goose entered the cave.  The bird had white feathers around the base of the bill with salt and pepper markings on the other wise white breast.

  “Ah, Daniel!  You just missed it!  The shimmering colors on the walls of the Meeting Place are just amazing!  It’s definitely my favorite part of the day.”

  “Is that why you summoned me, Deke, so early in the morning.”  Daniel grumbled out loud.  “I was having such a nice dream, too.”

  Deke smirked as he swam closer to his longtime friend and colleague.  Daniel was in charge of the Wist, the advisory team for the flock.  The Wist is comprised of five members, each representing a specific aspect of the management of the flock.

  Daniel lets Deke swim toward him wondering what his leader needed of him.  They have known each other for a long time and, in fact, had started as enemies.  Funny how things go and how one single moment can change everything.  He slips silently into a memory.

  “The Leader is flying in the bluer sky.”  The announcement was made by Maxim, one of the sentries at the time and the traditional declaration was clear, the former leader had died and it was time for a new one.  Daniel was ready.

  “I lay claim to take his place,” Daniel voiced immediately.  “To become your Leader!”

  The flock was silent.  The wind ruffled feathers of the large group of geese that had slowly gathered in the middle of the water.  They rose and fell with each wave as one, waiting.  A cloud ran across the sun casting a shadow over the ring of birds that surround Daniel.  Everyone waited.

  A small bird entered the middle of the circle and slowly swam around the larger one.  He had made eye contact while doing so.  The larger bird turned his head with the swimming of the other one.

  “Yes, I think I will challenge you,” he finally said stopping in the water.

Maxim nodded and spoke again, raising his head as he did, “Are there any other challengers?”

  The two birds in the midst of the flock waited.  No one joined them.

  “The Leader is gone to bluer skies and another will become at high sun,” Maxim declared.  The flock of geese dispersed and some flew away, some simply swam away and a few simply stayed in place.  The two birds, one larger and the other smaller, swam to opposite banks.

  Returning to the present, Deke had stopped in front of the larger bird and was studying his friend who had asked him a question.

  “I’m sorry.  What did you just say?” Daniel blinked.

  “Do you remember the beginning of all of this?

  “I do and I was just remembering it.”

  “Really? And what do you remember?” Deke asked him, settling next to him.

  “You challenged me.”

  “I did.  And?”

  Daniel returned to his memory.  High noon arrived but instead of on the water, the geese had gathered in a circle on the plateau at the top of the hill.  Inside it, the two combatants stood in front of each other.  In the surrounding trees, a group of small sparrows were quietly observing what was about to happen.

  Maxim stood at one side of the ring and his sentry partner, David, was directly across from him.

  “Daniel, are you ready?” Maxim called out.

  The larger bird stretched his neck and screamed a loud squawk.

  David’s voice rose, “Deke, are you ready?”

  The smaller bird simply responded, “I am.”

  With that, Daniel spread his wings and rose toward Deke.  Deke stood his ground, sitting down to brace himself for the impact when, at the last second, he dodged to his right.  The white bird glanced off the sitting goose and tumbled into the grass beside him.  Deke stood and walked toward the farthest end of the circle and sat down again.  Furious now, Daniel was up on his feet, wings still spread and running toward Deke.  He jumped with his webbed feet thrust forward toward the sitting bird.  Once again, Deke dodged at the last second but this time he grabbed an ankle of the larger goose in his mouth and pulled.  Daniel fell awkwardly, scuttled, and tossed from shoulder to shoulder across the ground.  Deke was upon him as he stopped, grabbing the same ankle again and clamped down.  He slowly started to spin around.  The faster he spun, the more Daniel struggled.  He twisted and turned, wings flapping, feathers flying when suddenly Deke let go.  Daniel fell on his back and tumbled backwards hitting his head on the ground.  He was dazed when he felt Deke’s mouth grip his neck.  Suddenly, he was scared and he squawked again.  Deke dragged him in his tight grasp to the center of the circle.  The surrounding birds had come alive, wings flapping, and they were yelling and squawking.  Feathers were flying and what they screamed was, “Kill him, kill him.”

  The larger bird’s eyes were wide with fright as Deke looked at the crowd, turning until his eyes came to rest on Maxim.  He dropped the neck of the larger goose from his mouth still looking at Maxim.

  Maxim bowed.  The crowd hushed and slowly they were all bowing to the ground.  Maxim rose and looked at Daniel who was still in a heap beside the new Leader.

“The Leader leads on,” David spoke. “You know what you must do, kill him or banish him.”

  Deke turned toward David but he was not only responding to him but to everyone.  “I don’t think so.  We are going to do something different.”

  Turning to Daniel, he said to him. “Get up.  Go home and rest.  I want to talk to you tomorrow.”

  “We started something different,” Daniel told Deke when he returned from that memory.

  “Exactly,” Deke pushed Daniel.  “Let’s do it again.”

To be continued…