big bird
I glanced out the window from my office desk chair, as usual bored by my work and looking for distraction. Though from where I sit all I can really see is a slice of sky and the buildings across the street. I can see people in the 10th floor office over there, but we never wave or acknowledge each other. why bother?
I saw a speck in the sky, a bird, getting bigger as it drew closer. The perspective seemed wrong and I quickly realized why; this bird was HUGE. Bigger than the peregrine falcons I occasionally see hunting pigeons. Bigger than, well, than me. It glided down out of the sky until it was over second street, it's wingspan not so big that it reached from building to building across the street, but big enough that it couldn't make it's swooping turn until it was over the intersection with market street. because it was so big, I felt like I could reach out and touch it, even though it was a good 25 feet away. for a moment I wished there was no glass in the window, so I could leap into the air, land on it's back, and fly away. But even as the thought went through my mind, the cold predatorial eye slid across me and I noticed the sharp curving beak, as long as I am tall, and I shrank back from the window, but only a little. I was scared, but fascinated.
Completing it's turn, the bird headed back in the direction from which it came, then it stooped and fell below my line of vision. Shouts and screams followed as it rose back into the sky, and with a few swift, strong beats of it's wings, it was gone, but not before I saw an arm dangling out of the beak. I stood and gazed after the bird as it diminished to a speck in the sky. Glancing at the 10th floor across the street, I saw a person standing in the window. Our eyes met, our glance locked, and we stared at each other. There was no change in noise on the street, and the screech of a street car broke my concentration. I looked away from the man in the window across the street, and sat back down. We'd never acknowledged each other before, why start now? the pre arbitration brief wasn't going to write itself, and I couldn't go home until it was done. Fortunately I had already ventured outside for the day's coffee, and could wait until dark to leave the building.
I saw a speck in the sky, a bird, getting bigger as it drew closer. The perspective seemed wrong and I quickly realized why; this bird was HUGE. Bigger than the peregrine falcons I occasionally see hunting pigeons. Bigger than, well, than me. It glided down out of the sky until it was over second street, it's wingspan not so big that it reached from building to building across the street, but big enough that it couldn't make it's swooping turn until it was over the intersection with market street. because it was so big, I felt like I could reach out and touch it, even though it was a good 25 feet away. for a moment I wished there was no glass in the window, so I could leap into the air, land on it's back, and fly away. But even as the thought went through my mind, the cold predatorial eye slid across me and I noticed the sharp curving beak, as long as I am tall, and I shrank back from the window, but only a little. I was scared, but fascinated.
Completing it's turn, the bird headed back in the direction from which it came, then it stooped and fell below my line of vision. Shouts and screams followed as it rose back into the sky, and with a few swift, strong beats of it's wings, it was gone, but not before I saw an arm dangling out of the beak. I stood and gazed after the bird as it diminished to a speck in the sky. Glancing at the 10th floor across the street, I saw a person standing in the window. Our eyes met, our glance locked, and we stared at each other. There was no change in noise on the street, and the screech of a street car broke my concentration. I looked away from the man in the window across the street, and sat back down. We'd never acknowledged each other before, why start now? the pre arbitration brief wasn't going to write itself, and I couldn't go home until it was done. Fortunately I had already ventured outside for the day's coffee, and could wait until dark to leave the building.