The Flock – Chapter III

  Two geese were hiding in the foliage on the hidden side of the hill around the corner from the Meeting Place opening.  Jake and Ki are facing each other arguing and they are opposites of each other but inseparable.  Jake is of average size, blackish-brown and white with a large white collar below his head.  Ki is small, gray with black wingtips, rounded head on a short neck. Here, in the foliage, they plotted their next adventure.

  “No, we are not going to do that,”  Jake whispered to Ki.

  “Why not?” Ki whispered back as he tried to convince his best friend to accompany him on his idea of an adventure.

  “It is crazy.  It will not make us look particularly good at all!”

  “ A lot of geese have done this before.  It will not be a first and it will not hurt anybody,” Ki responded as he started to swim back and forth in front of his friend.  “And admit it, you need help.”

  “You need help,”  Jake snapped back.

  “I do need help.  We all need help,” Ki nudged Jake in the chest.

   “Well, I remember when you needed help,” Jake stated.

  They were goslings, well, older goslings, not quite grown-up but thinking they were.  Ki was the smallest of the group that hung out together, a clique of sorts, consisting of ten to twelve birds.  He also was the center of some bullying, a constant teasing and pushing about his size and of his origin.  Ki was one of the offspring of a small group of geese that joined the Flock and as hard as he tried to fit in, a few of his peers tried to push him out because of who he is.  He always pushed back though, mainly using his words but on this particular day when he was shoved, he shoved back.  Soon, a small circle surrounded them as Ki and a larger brown bodied goose, whose name is forgotten, raised their wings and squawked at each other.  The brown goose attacked by suddenly raising from the water and diving at Ki, hitting him and he went under water and struggled to get to the surface.  He sputtered and gasped for air as he surfaced only to be hit again and forced below the water. 

  Almost immediately, the weight upon him was lifted and when Ki resurfaced, he saw another brown goose smashing his beak into the side of his attacker.  He recognized him as Jake, another member of the small group who had always circled around him when his tormentors started their sessions of bullying.  The two geese separated, and Jake spoke to, not only the goose he attacked, all of them.

  “Knock it off!  The Sentries will be here to find out what is happening soon.  Let it go and break it up!”

  The group dispersed leaving Ki and Jake alone looking at each other.  The waves beneath them rose and fell with each smoothing ripple of the water.

  “Why did you do that?” Ki broke the silence between them.

  “Sometimes everyone needs a little help,”  Jake smirked in response.

  The memory gone now, Jake refocused and looked at Ki.  He slowly began to nod affirmatively and told Ki, “You are right.  I need help.  I have always lacked confidence in approaching females you know.”

  “I know,” Ki smiled back at him.  “You do like her, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Well, let’s go ask her if she feels the same.”

  Jake nodded and the two of them started to swim out of the reeds only to run into Marcus, one of the Leader’s personal Sentries.  They slowly came to a stop before the large brown bird.

  “Jake and Ki?” Marcus asked of them.

  Jake nodded as Ki responded for both of them, “Yes?”

  “You have been summoned to The Meeting Place tomorrow at First Light.  Be there promptly.”

  Jake and Ki watched Marcus slowly turn from them and swim away.

To be continued…