Deke was fast asleep, hidden by tall grass, floating in the water. He had his head tucked into his chest and was completely hidden at water view but not from above. Protector saw him perfectly. He decided to return to the group and report that he found the former leader of the Flock. After a brief discussion, he led them to where Deke was and circled high above him. The others landed in the water nearby with the sparrow settling on a branch of a tree.
The geese huddled in a tight circle and Ack asked, “How should we approach him?”
“We were sent to do this together, I think we should all go,” Mattias spoke first.
“I don’t think all of us bearing down on him will convince him to go home with us,” Daniel said and shook his head.
“I’ll go,” Liza said.
“Why you?” Drifter asked her.
“I spent some time with him, and I have come to know him a little bit,” she answered him quietly.
“But Daniel has known him the longest,” Ack offered as a possibility.
“No,” Jake spoke up. “I think Liza should go.”
“Me, too,” Daniel agreed with him.
“But why her?” Mattias asked.
“Just a feeling,” Jake said, and Daniel shook his head in agreement.
Liza swam forward into the tall grass and immediately found herself in a maze. At first, she had trouble making sense of the path before her and which way to go but eventually the path became clearer. She realized that all she had to do was float and the stream would carry her through to where it opened to a small pool. She looked around and her eyes fell on a small brown goose snuggled in a mound of grass against the shore fast asleep. She looked at him for a moment thinking that they finally found him and how much she wanted him to go home with them. She wondered how she should approach him and what she should say as she simply let herself float. Her answer became clear when the goose she was looking at, opened his eyes.
“Hello,” he said not moving. “I am glad it is you. Are you alone?”
“No,” Liza answered not moving any closer.
“It figures,” Deke sighed. “Is Daniel here?”
“Hmmm,” she answered.
“Was it his idea to find me?”
“No,” she answered ad started to swim toward him. “It was Ki’s.”
“Ki’s? Interesting?” he said not moving but watched her some closer to him. “Who else is with you?”
“We are on a Quest. Protector and Simeone…”
“Of course,” he interrupted
“Protector, Simeone, Drifter, Jake, Mattias, Daniel,” she finished as she stopped directly in front of him. “And me.”
He was silent for a moment as he watched her turn around and back in next to him. She tucked her head into her neck and waited.
“What is the purpose of your Quest?” he asked.
“To bring you home with us.”
“Why so many of you?” he asked her.
“I don’t know. Ki and The Wist chose us to convince you to come back home.”
“Oh,” he chuckled to himself. “I like Ki. Did I make the right decision?”
“I think so, but I am not a good goose to ask,” Liza responded.
“Why is that?”
“I didn’t go to the winter home. I stayed with you, remember?”
“That was you?” he said as he swam out into the pool and turned to face her.
“Yes, it was me,” she said as she swam toward him. “I stayed with you and you left me.”
“No, no,” Deke shook his head. “I went away for me. I didn’t leave you.”
“No, you left me. I would have gone with you!” she cried. “I will stay with you if you don’t want to go back.”
“Why?’ he swam toward her. “Why would you want to stay with me? I am an old gray goose and you are…” he stopped and turned away from her.
“I am what?” Liza swam to him. “I am what? A younger goose who happens to be female who wants to be with you.”
He suddenly turned on her and she stopped. “Yes!” he said. “You are younger and deserve someone younger.”
“No,” she said. “You deserve me.”
The two geese floated and stared at each other until he turned from her.
“Besides, you aren’t an old gray goose,” she called after him. “You are an old brown goose.”
He turned back at her, looked into her eyes, and laughed. Liza swam toward him and they touched the crowns of their heads together where they simply looked at each other. It was then and there it was decided that she was his and he was hers.
“What are you going to do?” she finally asked him.
“What do you want me to do?” Deke returned the question with a question.
“No, no,” she said as she brought her head back from his. “You have to decide. I am just going to be with you no matter what you decide.”
“Well,” he relented. “Let’s go see the team.”
She nodded and he turned in the water. Together, they headed for the tall grass maze to return to the group.
Daniel, Ack, and Mattias waited together and let themselves drift in the water. Drifter swam out a little farther and ducked his head beneath the water retrieving tiny fish for lunch. Protector clutched a branch high in a tree and watched for anything that drew near the geese. Simeone was perched on a branch beneath the eagle and napped. A soft sound drew all their attention to the tall grasses where Liza entered, and they saw two geese emerge. The water birds swam to them and the other two flew to lower branches. Unfortunately, all but Protector, were talking at once. Deke raised both of his wings and they all grew silent.
“As you guys jibber jabbered at me, I heard a few questions that I will answer first and then you can ask me more,” Deke announced. “First, my eyesight has become stable while not as clear as before, I can definitely see, just not too far away. Number two, I have been here and there and everywhere, and number three, I haven’t decided to come back with you.”
The birds looked at him quietly and let themselves float in the water. Liza swam and stopped beside him, and they looked at the others
“Deke,” Daniel spoke up and started to swim toward the tall grasses again. “Can we talk?”
Deke looked at Liza who shrugged back at him. He turned toward Danial and said, “Sure.”
The two geese disappeared from view.
To be continued…
My First Stories 