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The seven geese looked at each other and shifted their weight from one foot to the other. The owl stared down with bright yellow eyes, blinked once, and turned his head quickly away and then back to them.
“What is the first priority of all birds?” Giant asked the geese, still gazing at them.
They stood in silence for a few seconds when Ki answered. “Food.”
“Ah, yes, food. Your first test is to find food. You must be hungry and feel the craving to reenergize because of your flight so far. Am I right?”
“Well, sure,” Mattias agreed. “But the test must be more than that!”
The owl spread his wings and the geese jumped. Great folded them back and chuckled. “You are correct. There is more to the test. You must find a location to feed the entire Flock by day’s end. Now go, it is my sleep time and you are interrupting it.”
The horn tipped owl spread his massive wings again, flapped and rose, hooted once, then disappeared into the darkness above them.
The geese formed a circle while the sparrow darted to another branch closer to them.
“I am hungry,” Mattias said to open the discussion.
“Food enough to the feed the flock,” Drifter summarized.
“How are we supposed to do that?” High asked. “Do we separate or stay together.”
“It is a test after all. I think we go out alone,” Liza stated firmly.
“No, I disagree,“ Ki interjected. “Yeah, this is a test, but we were sent out together and whoever becomes the Leader has to be able to work with others to make decisions.”
“I agree,” Jake confirmed.
“You would,” Ack spoke up. “You two are brothers in spirit but I agree with Ki. We need to stay together.”
High chimed in with a question, “How do we decide if there are seven opinions.”
“We talk and decide together,” Ki stated to the group.
“I disagree!” Liza spoke loudly and High jumped, startled.
“Whoa,” Drifter spoke directly to Liza and his tone turned serious. “You cannot bully us into this decision.”
“Knock it off,” Ki interjected. Jake rose on his feet, stood tall and stepped in front of Ki.
Ack chimed in. “We are wasting time with this distraction. I think we should make a decision.”
“Liza, would you agree to all-for-all voting?” Ki asked her.
She eyed the geese around her. She could see that she was clearly in the minority and at the corner of her eye she spied a second sparrow join Simone on a branch above them. “Sure,” she finally agreed.
“Fine,” Ki sighed in relief. “First, let’s hear what everyone thinks on how to continue. I think we should select the feeding ground together. Liza thinks we should separate and find our own place to feed The Flock and I would assume, if that is our decision, that Simone would have enough “Watchers” for all of us. Is that correct Simone?”
“Yes,” one of the sparrows relied. “There will be plenty of Watchers, as you call them, well, watching.”
Ki nodded and turned to Liza and asked her, “Is that correct?”
Liza looked at Ki, perhaps for the first time, before she nodded in agreement.
“Now, let us hear from the rest of you. Drifter?” Ki continued.
“You might see me as a loner but I really am not. I say, we decide together.”
“High?”
“I think we should stay together,” she answered.
“You know what my vote is,” Jake spoke before he was called upon. “I stay with Ki.”
Ack laughed aloud, “I told you about you two, Jake, but I agree that we decide together.”
“Hey, I agree, “Mattias was the last to voice his opinion. “I am starving so let’s get going if we are to get going.”
Ki faced Liza and nodded, spread his wings, lifted into the air, and headed for the top of the trees. One by one the others rose with Liza being the last to join them.
The geese broke into the airspace above the trees, headed in the direction they had begun the day but at a lower level. From this height, it was clearer for them to observe their surroundings. Onward they flew, travelling over treetops and fields that jig-jagged with lines of green and brown. Occasionally, a small pond appeared, and Ki would lead them in a circling pattern above it before rising again. This procedure occurred a few times.
“There!” Drifter shouted. “To the right.”
They all turned their heads in that direction and saw a large body of water. Deke turned them toward it and began a slow turn around the perimeter of the large pond. Tall grass and reeds rose around the edges with a cluster of trees stood on one end of it. The most intriguing aspect of the location was a small island that held a few trees with bushes scattered about it.
“What do you think?” Ki asked the birds behind him.
“Looks good to me.”
“Me, too”
“Nice eyes, Drifter,” Ack voiced.
“Let’s go. I am hungry!” Mattias concluded.
“Where?” Liza asked them.
“Where do you think?” Ki asked her.
“I think we use the island as a base and then we can filter out and check the rest.” Liza answered his question.
No one else objected so Ki led them down and they landed almost simultaneously on the ground of the island. The geese spread out in different directions to the edges of the island and slowly back to the center where they met once again.
“The island seems safe to me,” Liza spoke first.
“To sleep,” Mattias stated. “Not to eat.”
“I agree,” Ki nodded his head.
“Yes,” High summarized. “The trees and bushes will provide cover for us.”
“Ok, what’s next?” Jake asked.
“We check out the rest of this place,” Drifter said.
“But not alone,” Liza said.
“I agree,” Ki said. “There are seven of us. Three teams?”
“Mattias and High. Drifter, Jake and Ack,” Liza declared as she turned toward Ki, “And me and you.”
“No!” Jake spoke walking toward the two birds staring at each other.
“No, Jake,” Ki spoke quietly. “I think those are good teams. Anyone else object?”
Jake stopped and no one else said a word. All seven stood in silence. A sparrow joined them on a nearby branch and Ki glanced at it.
“No objections then. Mattias and High go check out the woods, you three go check out the edge over there with the tall grasses and Liza and I will go over there.”
“Let’s go,“ Drifter turned toward the water. “This will be fun.”
“We will meet back here to assess what we think shortly,” Ack added as he entered the water.
Ki and Liza were the last to wade into the water and began to swim away from the others leaving a small wave behind them. Liza did not wait before stating her belief, “I think I am the obvious choice to be the next Leader and the sooner you see that the better you will be.”
Ki chuckled, shook his head, and kept swimming toward their assigned space. Liza lifter her head high and followed him. They swam in silence through the tall grass which became denser the closer they swam to the bank causing the water to lap higher onto the surrounding ground. A gurgling sound interrupted the silence and they swam toward it. They felt the cold on their paddling feet before they saw the small spring of water join the larger in which they were swimming. Liza tugged at a stalk of grass near the opening of the spilling water and began to chew. She nodded excitedly to Ki.
“Sweet?” Ki asked. Liza nodded affirmatively and Ki pulled at a stalk.
A loud squawk filled the air and they both turned toward it. Dropping the grass from their beaks they rose together with a quick flap of their wings and darted toward the sound.
“Where did it come from?” Liza asked as they flew.”
“The woods!” Ki responded.
As they drew nearer, they saw Jake, Drifter and Ack land on the ground and were scrambling forward toward the noise. A large brown streak entered the trees ahead of them as the two remaining geese landed and followed the others. Speckled shadows spread on the ground before them as they hurried to catch up.
The trees separated into a clearing as they spied the others surrounding something on the ground. The eagle was clutching a branch above them, but his eyes were scanning toward the sky into the canopy of the tree covering. Several sparrows were scattered among the surrounding trees. Ki edged his way into the ring of geese to see Mattias on the ground and High sitting on the ground beside him.
To be continued…
My First Stories 