| With a solid breeze rushing beneath my wings and the sun’s warmth embracing me, I felt I would soar forever. The scent of pine awakened my soul. I felt so invigorated and immortal coasting just beneath the heavens. From my view the sky truly was limitless! For hours I would enjoy this sensation, drinking in its pleasures. Closer, closer, I would race towards the vibrant, blazing sun daring her to chastise me by scorching my feathers of the blackest midnight. I was drawn to her like a lover. She was my daily companion guiding me to new horizons. She never failed to lead me in my perpetual assignment of mourning souls about to lose their life-giving spirit. She bathed them in her golden blanket of warmth comforting them until I arrived. It was such a blessing to be a vulture. My place within the circle of life was so sacred, so vital. I would cleanse the earth maintaining her health, her balance. The dead are dead. Nothing more can be done for them. Their story had ended; their final act played out. Outsiders may have viewed my role as gruesome and disgusting, but if they were to see through my eyes a different story would unfold. My lungs would inhale the air, taking in all her aromas. Within a moment of recognizing a most familiar distinct scent, I would adjust my course in the proper direction. I had an especially keen sense of smell, better even than those of my roost. I was usually the first to detect the faintest few molecules of odor enabling me to be the earliest upon a fresh site. My sense of smell was so keen in fact that I sometimes could predict a creature’s demise. I would never invade that privacy though. Instead I would observe my client and patiently wait until my cue. Not all my brethren followed this code of conduct. Some would be over anxious, dive in and actually hurry the inevitable along. I considered this rude and improper. I followed tradition. I always mourned the loss of life even though I knew that life was a gift, and eventually it must be given back, recycled into a new life, a new living creature. Stronger, stronger the scent would grow filling me with adrenaline and strength. Finally, my eyes would spy the still form lying in the shadows, its last attempt to conceal its loneliness. The solitary, intimate manner with which death met each mortal was fearful for some, a relief for others. Either way, my task still beckoned me to completion. I would gracefully begin encircling the remains, thereby initiating the process of mourning. Faster, swifter I would fly until the whole world became a blur. On and on I would revolve feeling the grief, the agony the recently departed manifested before falling into the deepest slumber. It was as if I could feel what they felt just before their heart beat its last. Sometimes this saddened me. Sometimes my body in flight felt heavy and over laden with sorrow even after all these years of performing my duties faultlessly. Still, my task was necessary. My lamentations would then ring throughout the vicinity. And when I purged the last of my melancholy, I would begin my dive. Once I landed, I would always look into their eyes. I wanted to understand them in some small way before I began the next portion of my chore. I wanted to convey some respect to them. I wanted to tell them that they simply passed their life giving spirit to another born somewhere else in the world. I wanted to tell them that I would not forget them. They would stay in my memory forever. This private moment never lasted long since my companions were always nearby. The feasting would then begin. I would quickly take my fill knowing that their decaying body would continue to give life to others through the form of nourishment. It really was the decent thing to do. I would think it a crime to allow a body to decay and rot when so much could be gained from partaking of their remains. For that is exactly what is left: remains. They are no longer in need of the shell that was once infused with life. With my belly full and my heart still heavy with sadness, I would whisper good-bye. It was over. I would ascend towards the heavens just as their spirit did. I would stop short though just beneath the clouds deep in thought. The shadows sometimes haunted me. How could I not dwell on death when my whole life revolved around it? I would seek solace in a private tree. There I would meditate on the glory of youth. When the sadness in my soul would finally settle deep down temporarily out of my reach, my exuberance for life would once again lift me up. A warm current of air would carry me upward towards the brilliant blue above. With my wings arched in a “V,” I would soar ever higher. So very high towards the fiery warmth of the sun, I would soar. I would feel so carefree and content. I would pump my wings with a passion so wicked that I felt my heart would burst at any moment. I did not want to lose my zeal for life. My feverish dream always ended thus when the gentle rays of the morning awoke me from my sweet, sweet dream. And today, something was ominous from the beginning. My ancient bones ached with that dread pulsing through them. And with a stiffness so imbedded, I stretched my wings thoroughly knowing they would carry me at least one day more. And so I took off without a word to my roost, not really wanting to be followed. I craved solitude on this day. Wishing this gloomy feeling to subside, I knew I had to search out the cause of my melancholy. I calmly glided through the meadow forcing my emotions not to overcome me. I was afraid of where my exploration might lead me. The feeling grew even more intense. I almost turned back. I began telling myself that the feeling would pass if I would just give it time. What was troubling me? I had never felt like this before. I could not understand the range of emotions surging through me. I only wanted to be rid of them. It was an awful feeling, a feeling so dark, so deep. Why did this sensation insist on overwhelming me? And around another bend, I found the sky darkening, obscuring my companion, the sun. The smell that wafted up to me was rather unpleasant, also. I could not quite identify it, and that troubled me. I felt a card had been played, and my turn would never come. And with every breath I inhaled, the more ill I grew knowing the strength of it meant I was almost there. By this time I had traveled several hours away from my home. And with the dread continuing to drape over the sky consuming nearly all the sunshine, I found myself immersed in an engulfing depression. But I knew my departure that morning had been guided by a love deep inside me. For some inexplicable reason, I knew the fate of others depended on me. And then the stench of death struck me full on. It had been concealed all this time with a sharp metallic odor. I almost plunged downward into the abyss of evil. There, before my eyes, a scene out of my worst nightmare had come to life. Bodies upon bodies lay rotting in a deep depression. The wind had failed to sweep the stench from the valley. It was hanging there immobile and intense. Nausea had begun to fill my belly, my soul. A gripping fear grew so severe that I began to suffocate. This was not nature’s doing. Only man could produce such a travesty. Onward I flew taking in account all the horror. It seemed all the winged creatures of the earth were victims. I saw all varieties, all sizes. No one seemed to have escaped. I knew immediately that the evil resided not in the flesh but in the air. The putrid air had been contaminated somehow. Regrettably, vultures had long been acquainted with mankind’s involvement in affairs not their own. They were never satisfied with waiting for nature to deal with an imbalance. Instead they would abruptly tip the scales in what they thought was their favor, their own good. Irony is all that could be said about their accomplishments. They eventually managed to inflict injury, illness, and death on their own kind. They could never seem to understand that we were all connected. Would they ever see the folly of their ways? So many innocent lives put to rest without respect, without honor. The humans had already begun callously covering up their abomination. Then smoke quickly filled the air as the remains were set afire. My mourning now commenced as the task became clear to me. I must warn all creatures of the impending doom. The disaster had only just begun. More deaths would soon follow if I did not act quickly. I knew the wind would soon pick up and spread the poison westward towards my home. Immediately I rushed into the sunset hoping to stay ahead of the wind that I knew would soon begin spewing poison. |
| Perfect Peace |