"Flight"

By: Catherine Lindquist

~~© 1990

Even as night fell, the setting sun casting a russet glow on the fringes of the clouds above, the hawk hovered high above the trees, deciding if he should find a place to sleep for the night. No, he was hungry and hadn't had much to eat in the last few days. A little more time wouldn't matter too much. Prey was so sparse in this area anyway.

Long after the black velvet of night hung heavily in the sky, the light of the full moon cast silvery shadows in the open meadow below. The hawk's sharp eyes caught sight of movement in the grasses below him. There was no wind that quiet night, so the hawk dived, knowing the source of the movements to be his next meal. He made himself as aerodynamic as possible in his dive, his decent deadly and silent. He plummeted at incredible speeds until, at the crucial moment, he spread his strong wings and, talons extended, caught the surprised mouse in his grip. He flew triumphantly into the night sky.

After a few moments in flight, the land below him changed from the rolling meadows and thick forest he was accustomed to to a barren desert, deprived of trees and other vegetation. The sight of this wasteland disgusted him as it disgusted all the other creatures who had used this land as their home. The forest he had just flown over was dwindling as well, leaving the animals there with little food, little protection from the upcoming winter. The land below was ravaged beyond hope. The things that ate the trees and the soil...and left the land bare in their wake were silent now, waiting for their masters to bring them roaring back to life again, to continue their senseless destruction of the Mother that gave life to all Her children. Ironically enough, some of Her children were also the same ones destroying Her.

The hawk glided away from the horrible sight and landed on a tree near his home. While eating his catch, he thought of the migration. Soon it would begin. The animals couldn't stay on that little patch of land and expect to live through the winter...it was hard enough to survive now in the waning of summer. Soon it would be time for the creatures to follow the bright star that would lead them away, never to return until that land was theirs once more.

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