The wind should have whistled between my wings. The rabbit below me should have scurried away at top speed at the sound of my screech. In fact, I should have already died from flying this high. But they wind didn’t ruffle my feathers, and my voice did not strike terror into those below me. Death did not strike me from the sky. How could it? I was free; free as, well… a bird. My wings would never tire, my stomach would never grumble, and the winds could never hurt me ever again. One small moment of pain, and then you’re free! Never again to feel the cool touch of the north-westerly on my glorious plumage, never again to see the joy in my hawk ling’s eyes when I gave him his daily mouse. But isn’t so bad right? Imagine, to be flying in glorious solitude with the fresh air! Never tiring never aging … and all alone? But I have everything I need. The wind, the sun, the sky, I have everything a bird could want… Except love. Flying solo, all alone for the rest of eternity. That couldn’t be so bad right? But I could feel myself breaking as I aimlessly meandered through the air. I missed it, I missed it all. Funny what a strong wind and a well placed power line can do eh? Leaving you on your own with no one to talk to. It seems so long ago… I looked down. Though I hadn’t realized it, the seasons had passed. Summer had passed into fall, and then into winter. It was now spring and I could see a happy couple nesting on a cliff. I carefully glided down to watch them, for I had been circling a long time. They couldn’t see me, but I got the feeling that the eggs could. They were glowing, pulsing even as night turned to day and back again. A faint voice whispered at the very edge of my hearing. I strained to hear it but couldn’t detect the language. More voices began to whisper, and got louder. They still remained indiscernible. With a sigh, I saw the eggs begin to fade. In a panic, I scrambled towards it, and fell right through it. Trapped in the speckled shell I began to panic, losing my memories my thoughts, my feelings as I was absorbed. I struggled harder until a small crack of daylight appeared. As my beak poked through the shell for what seemed like the hundredth time, I suddenly understood what the voices were chanting. “Another chance. Another chance. Another chance.” In a moment, my past flashed through my brain. Of every life, of every death, of every child. I understood that I was truly part of a circle, and would continue on my path forever. Loving, hating, and living every minute of it. With that last thought the last memory vanished from my mind. Around 10 months after a bird had been found dead and tangled under electric lines across town, a baby chick was born. Her parents named her Skrii Ku. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You are welcome to post feedback here