Simeone fluttered to keep up with the large white goose beside him. He wondered why he had decided to be part of this quest to find a friend of his. His “flock” of sparrows stayed close to The Flock since Deke started it. Maybe, that is why. To find his friend, Deke. He wondered how they lost him anyway.
When he met Deke, he and a few of his friends were in some trees that were stationed along the rim of a plateau at the top of a tall hill. There were seeds hidden in oblong shells scattered on the ground below them and one by one, they would flitter down, grab a seed, and return to the tree they were resting on. As he jumped down to the ground below himself, a goose waddled onto the plateau behind him. His friends flew from their perches to other trees but Simeone stayed where he was on the ground.
“Hello, friend,” the goose spoke first.
“Hello,” Simeone responded cautiously as he hopped from one foot to the other.
“My name is Deke, “ the goose introduced himself. “And you are?”
“Simeone, Leader of the Sparrows,” Simeone responded, trying to make himself important to the larger bird. “Actually, King, of the Sparrows.”
“Oh, your highness,” Deke replied as he sat on the ground in front of him. “I didn’t know I was addressing royalty. I wonder if I should get a name like that.”
“Why?” the sparrow hopped.
“I just became the leader of a flock of geese and I might need a new name. What do you think?”
Simeone remained silent for a few seconds and actually stood still as he surveyed the bird before him. He was on the small side, as far as geese go, mostly white with black wingtips and the dark eyes on the rounded head that watched him thoughtfully.
“If that is true, that you are the new leader of a flock, leaders need to earn their name,” he finally commented.
Deke nodded in agreement still looking at the sparrow. “Do you like this place?” he asked him.
“Why?” he responded, hopping closer to the goose. “Why do you want to know?”
“Thinking about making it our new home,” Deke answered him.
“There is no water here. I thought geese needed water to live?” Simeone questioned him.
“Oh, we do, Simeone,” Deke said as he stood causing the smaller bird to jump. “Can you walk with me?”
The goose turned and waddled away from him toward the edge of the flat land. Simeone followed him, hopping as he caught up with him. The goose turned his head, looked at him and nodded. When they reached the edge, the goose sat down. The sparrow paused beside him.
“From where you are, can you see the view below us?” Deke asked.
Simeone hopped closer to the edge and looked down. Far below him, an expanse of water began at the bottom of the cliff. From there, it arced to his left where the far bank was hidden from him by trees.
“I didn’t realize there was water down there,” he said to the goose. “I never looked beyond those trees behind us.”
Deke chuckled as he looked at the Simeone, King of the Sparrows. He got serious and asked the small bird, “What do you do?”
“What do you mean?” Simeone hopped closer to the goose.
“What makes up your kingdom?” Deke asked watching the sparrow closely.
“Simeone, what’s on your mind?” Ack interrupted the sparrow’s deep thoughts.
“What?” the sparrow answered him as he looked at the white goose flying beside him. “Can we take a break?”
“Sure,” Ack said. Looking from the small bird to the ground below him. A quick, sliver of light attracted his attention. “Looks like a small bit of water down there. Shall we?”
“Fine,” Simeone said and angled toward it.
The goose followed the sparrow looking at the area they were heading. The water was surrounded by tall, dark green trees. He knew they were the kind of trees that dropped small, brown oblong pods that contained seeds that sparrows liked to eat. Thankfully, the water was clear and there might be something for him to eat, too. There was already tall grass and reeds growing around the edges for it being early in the warm season that he would, at least, have grass to nibble on. Ack laughed to himself. He decided he must be hungry. He landed on the water as the sparrow flew to a nearby tree and he swam toward him.
“So what’s up?” Ack asked Simeone.
“I was just thinking about Deke,” Simeone replied. “And when we first met.”
“Interesting story?” Ack asked in curiosity, drifting below him on thew water.
Simeone hopped forward and backward, once, twice, before he answered Ack. How much should he tell him?
“He asked me why I was King of the Sparrows? Truthfully, Ack, I didn’t know. At the time I met him, I had been “king” for three seasons. Most of us, don’t live three full seasons, I have been around for thirteen full seasons. I have known Deke for ten of them. Wow, I have never thought of that before now. Anyway, I told him that I didn’t know. Do you know what he said to me?”
“I do. Maybe. Did he did say why not?” Ack offered a guess.
“Yeah,” Simeone paused on the branch. “He said, why not? How long have you known him, Ack?”
“Know him?” Ack smiled at the sparrow. “I don’t know him. I was born into The Flock. The first I came to meet him was when I was part of the Journey of the Seven at the end of the last hot season.”
“Ah, that’s right. You were one of the seven possibilities to replace him. Well, let me tell you, he is great at asking questions to get you to think about your answer. Why not, he said? I had to think why I was King of the Sparrows. I finally answered him this way, I listened to my kingdom. As I said that, I realized that we really listened to all birds. We know about the red birds, the owls, the eagles, the big birds, and the little birds. We are everywhere and we are small enough to go unseen. I told him that, too.” Simeone paused, and slowly nodded. “He just looked at me and nodded.”
When Simeone grew silent, Ack looked at him and simply floated below the tree he was perched in. A breeze caused small ripples in the water causing the goose to bob up and down.
“You hungry?” Ack finally asked Simeone.
“Yes, I guess I am,” Simeone solemnly said.
“I think those seeds you like are on the ground,” Ack noted to the sparrow. “Why not eat a bit?
“Very funny,” Simeone flittered down from the branch to the ground. He found a brown pod nearby, pushed his beak between two brown pieces and drew out a small white seed. He proceeded to crunch it in his mouth. He repeated the steps again and crunched a second seed.
While Simeone ate from the brown pod, Ack looked into the water and spied a small fish. He cried out in joy, dipped his head, pulled it out of the water, and swallowed. He was able to find two more fish and he was satisfied. He looked back to the shore to address the sparrow. He was no longer on the ground. He looked up into the tree and there he was, back on the branch he had started from.
“So what do you think? Would Deke stop here?” Ack asked Simeone.
“No,” the sparrow said. “I don’t know what is farther within the trees, but it doesn’t seem safe to me.”
“It isn’t safe,” a voice boomed from above them. “So interrupting my slumber again, are we?”
The sparrow had flown to another tree at the unexpected sound as the goose turned and swam from the shoreline.
“Simeone,” the voice continued. “It seems we go seasons without seeing one another to seeing one another all of the time. So you are looking for Deke?”
The brown bird flew back to the tree he flew from when he first heard the voice. The white goose slowly swam back toward the tree. The two birds peered up into the branches and spied two huge, golden eyes, looking down at them.
“Great?” the sparrow asked.
“It is I,” the bird revealed himself. It was a huge brown owl who spun his head behind him and back to them. The wings fell at its sides and the large talons gripped a large branch. “Why are you here disturbing me?”
Ack stepped forward to get a better look at the great owl. He was a big bird just as he remembered him from his first encounter with him. The owl had huge wings and big yellow eyes that blinked slowly as they observed him. Yes, observed him was the right word for what Ack felt. He was being closely examined. This was the owl named Great that sent them on their first test when the seven candidates went through the Leader contest. Contest? He laughed to himself.
“What’s so funny, goose?” the owl grumbled at him.
“Oh, nothing, sorry,” Ack immediately bowed to the owl. “We are looking for Deke…”
“Deke?” Great cut him off in mid-sentence. “Why should you be looking for my friend Deke?”
“He left The Flock,” Simeone spoke up.
“Why? That wasn’t his plan, Simeone,” Great said as he closed his eyes and twisted his head, front to back to front.
“I know,” the sparrow agreed. “But he did leave and Protector…”
“Protector, the eagle?” Great interrupted the sparrow this time.
“Yes,” Simeone continued. “Protector came across him five, or is it six, settings of the Bright Light ago. The Flock wants him to come back.”
“The new Leader, Ki, wants him back?” the owl asked.
“Yes, we all want Deke back,” Ack answered him.
The owl suddenly spreads his massive wings and slowly brings them back to his sides. He opens the talons of his left foot and regrips the branch then does the same with his right one.
“He isn’t here, and he hasn’t been here,” Great told the goose below him and the sparrow on a branch nearby. “Look around. Does this place even look like a place he would stay at?”
Ack returned his gaze toward the water. It was clear and surrounded by tall grass but small and awfully close to trees where enemies could be. No, the owl is right. Deke would pass this place without even looking at it.
“No,” Simeone answered for him. “We will leave you on your own, Great.”
“It is about time!” the owl growled again.
Ack laughed and nodded to the sparrow. “I guess we will see you around then.”
“I guess you will,” Great returned Ack’s comment as he watched the two birds rise in the air and fly away.
To be continued…
My First Stories 