A Forest.
You may have forgotten this, but I sure haven't.
My friends and I were flitting through the forest, when we heard a rooster crowing and making a huge racket.
"What do you suppose a rooster is doing in a forest?" asked Blue Jay.
"I don't know, " I replied, "but let's go see what's going on."
We glided down to the forest floor to see a large rooster, unhappily plucking at his feathers. He was rather beautiful, but he was destroying himself.
"What's wrong?" asked Raven.
"Do you need help? Are you lost?" chimed in Snowy the owl.
"Yes," said Rooster. "I want to be up in the trees, but I haven't the proper wings to fly, so I can't. Maybe if I pluck these ones out, I'll grow back some flying feathers."
"That's not possible," said Tanager. "It's not up to you to decide what your natural abilities are."
"Well then, please! Please put me up in this tree! I want to see what you get to see when you fly."
My friends and I tried thinking of ways to get Rooster into the tree, but he wasn't happy with anything we had to say. He wouldn't even listen to anything we had to suggest. We just had to leave him, there was no way to change his mind on anything. We told him we'd stop by to visit him everyday, but not even this seemed to make him happy. Rooster continued to pluck out his feathers, hoping flying feathers would grow back.
Each morning, my friends and I would stop by to see Rooster, but he wasn't very kind. Our "good morning's" were greeted by "go away's". We felt sorry for Rooster and each gave him some of our own feathers.
One day as I made my way through the forest, I saw my friend Robin. I never could get Robin to notice me as I passed him by. One in a while, he would acknowledge me, but it usually made me more sad, for he never had anything nice to say to me.
As with most encounters, Robin ignored me. I sighed and kept going, but heard a voice in the trees. "I don't know why you bother," it said. "He's not going to notice you, or even if he does, he's not going to care."
"Who's there?" I asked, bewildered.
"It does not matter, just listen to me. You need to forget about Robin. He doesn't care, but I do." The Voice said.
"Who are you? What are you talking about?"
"Just forget about him okay? Do his feathers match yours?"
I didn't know. I've never been able to see myself whole. "I-I don't know, do they?"
"No, they do not. But I have eyes and wings and feet as you do, so listen to me. Forget."
Later in the day, I saw Blue Jay. I asked him if he had heard anything in the trees. He thought I was crazy, and then asked what had happened.
"What does he mean your feathers don't match, of course they do! Is your breast not orange?"
I looked down as best I could. "Well, yeah."
"Then listen to me, Robin is perfect for you, just try harder."
"We'll see," I said, though without promise in my voice.
The next morning, I was flying through the forest and saw Oriole singing sweetly. I tried to sing back to him, but my notes weren't nearly as sweet. I was so nervous, it sounded more like squawking.
"Little bird, what are you doing?" It was The Voice again. It was again coming from somewhere in the trees.
"Why do you ask? I was singing back to Oriole, only I don't think he liked my song," I replied.
"Why do you think that? Can't you see he watches you? I think he liked it."
"Well, I'm not so sure. I think he's very beautiful, but I don't think I-"
"Why are you even talking to me anymore?"
"What are you talking about?! You're the one that started talking to me!"
"But why listen? What could I know? I don't think you want to talk to me anymore."
I was very confused. Was The Voice jealous of Oriole? Why? I simply couldn't understand, since it was The Voice that had started talking to me!
"I'm sorry, I do want to talk to you, but why won't you show yourself to me?"
"Don't worry, little one. Are your wings not black like Oriole's?"
I extended my wings and looked. "Why yes, they are. But what color are your wings?"
"I have eyes and wings and feet as you do, so listen to me. You match Oriole."
I flew through the trees, trying to find The Voice, but nothing was there. I flew around, trying to find anyone to help me sort this all out, and saw my friends talking to Rooster. I recounted this new experience to them, and Rooster was the first to give his opinion.
"You don't match anything, you'll never find something like you!" he said.
"Well Rooster, you won't be matching anything yourself if you keep plucking your feathers. Knock it off, it's gross," I shot back. "In no time, you'll have no feathers of your own and only ours!"
"Well, I still think you match Robin," said Blue Jay.
"No, she's meant for Oriole. If she can't have Oriole, then how am I to have hope that I'll ever find my owl?" asked Snowy.
Raven said, "It's not your time. Things will be when they're meant to be."
Tanager let her opinion be known by pecking Rooster on the head and then flitted away.
The next morning, I saw Oriole again and tried to sing, and this time, I know I squawked. He cocked his head and looked at me, and I heard The Voice laughing at me.
"What is so funny?" I demanded. "Let me see you!"
"You do not need to see me. Just trust me. You are making a fool of yourself, but I still know you would choose him if you could."
"You are so conflicting! You tell me what you think and then offer more for me to think about. What am I to think? What do you want me to say? How can I know what I choose if I can't even see you?"
"I have eyes and wings and feet as you do, so listen to me. Trust me."
I was more frustrated than I had ever been, and tore through the tree tops trying to find anything, anything that would give away where the voice was coming from.
I flew back to where I knew my friends would be. Along the way, I think I passed Robin, but I can't be sure. When I found my friends, they were in an uproar. I went to see what the problem was, and I could not believe what I saw.
Rooster plucked all of his feathers completely out. "Rooster! What have you done to yourself?" I asked.
"I want to fly. I want to see what you see when you get to fly. I pluck my feathers out in hopes that flying feathers grow back in. Except it hasn't happened yet."
"We've told you Rooster," said Tanager, "you can't do something you weren't designed to do!"
"Ah, but you're wrong. You don't know how wrong you are."
"You hardly look like a rooster anymore, you now look like some mix between all of us. You're nothing but a piece of each and every one of us," Raven remarked.
"You couldn't possibly understand," said Rooster.
We then heard a cooing noise in a bush nearby. Blue Jay moved forward to see just what was there, when a tiny pigeon came waddling out from the brush. She made her way to Rooster's side and sat there proudly.
"Who are you?" asked Snowy. "Where have you come from?. I've never seen you here, and you are most certainly as out of place here as Rooster is."
"Pigeon is not out of place, she is mine. We belong in the same place together. I have her feathers as well." Rooster said cooly.
I was disgusted and flew away. I flew past Robin and made my way past Oriole as fast as I could. I couldn't be near Rooster. I couldn't stand to see what he had become, he was hardly a Rooster anymore. He became a piece of each one of us more and more with each feather he took. Surely, how could he be a rooster with the feathers of an owl? Or a raven? Or a tanager?
I sat for a while near a puddle, mulling over my thoughts. I peered into the puddle and noticed my reflection as if for the first time. It was true; I had an orange breast, as did Robin, and I also had the black wings of Oriole. But I was neither. I am a nuthatch.
I was startled to hear The Voice behind me, but more so to see that it belonged to none other than Rooster. He was the voice that had haunted me, that had tried to lead me astray.
I turned and nearly screamed, "You! It's been you this whole time! You took our feathers so that you could fly!"
"Of course I did, do you really think I'm so pathetic? Do you really think that I am as helpless as I put on? Nonsense. If not for Pigeon, I never would have thought of this. She's been here all along, only you were too stupid to see that."
"Why? Why would you do this? What satisfaction could you possibly get out of all of this?"
"It has very little to do with satisfaction. I don't care. I took pieces away from each and every one of you, and used you to get what I want. That's all there is to it. End of story."
"You're wrong, you're dead wrong. You're not a Rooster. Even under all of those feathers, you are still nothing but a chicken. That's all you are and that's all you ever have been. You may have fooled us for a while, but it's over. You are scum. You are nothing. You must not fly ever again."
Rooster tried to fly awkwardly away from me. He was not as graceful as he wished, since he was nothing but a composite. I had to stop him. I whistled. I squawked. I did everything in my power to attract attention to myself.
Oriole came rushing to my aid with his friend, Owl. I told them as much as I could as quickly as I possible. Oriole gave me a sad look that I may never understand, but quickly left to overcome Rooster and strip him of our feathers.
Rooster and Pigeon were forever banished from our forest. There comes a point where compassion runs out and all that you're left with is the startling image of how you have been used. You can only feign ignorance for so long. You can give away only so many pieces of yourself before you are left with barely enough of yourself.
We learned a lot, and discovered a lot of ourselves. I saw myself as whole without influence, and learned not to only see what I want. And Snowy didn't have to give up her hope after all, Owl came when she needed him, just not when she thought he would. I'll find a nuthatch someday, now that I know what I am looking for.
The End.
Haha, I still think that was the best indirect telling-off that I have ever done. (I mean, no, this was just about birds, not actual events! ;)) Remember the 26 comments we left about this? I just read them, and I still contend that they're funnier than the story.
My friends and I were flitting through the forest, when we heard a rooster crowing and making a huge racket.
"What do you suppose a rooster is doing in a forest?" asked Blue Jay.
"I don't know, " I replied, "but let's go see what's going on."
We glided down to the forest floor to see a large rooster, unhappily plucking at his feathers. He was rather beautiful, but he was destroying himself.
"What's wrong?" asked Raven.
"Do you need help? Are you lost?" chimed in Snowy the owl.
"Yes," said Rooster. "I want to be up in the trees, but I haven't the proper wings to fly, so I can't. Maybe if I pluck these ones out, I'll grow back some flying feathers."
"That's not possible," said Tanager. "It's not up to you to decide what your natural abilities are."
"Well then, please! Please put me up in this tree! I want to see what you get to see when you fly."
My friends and I tried thinking of ways to get Rooster into the tree, but he wasn't happy with anything we had to say. He wouldn't even listen to anything we had to suggest. We just had to leave him, there was no way to change his mind on anything. We told him we'd stop by to visit him everyday, but not even this seemed to make him happy. Rooster continued to pluck out his feathers, hoping flying feathers would grow back.
Each morning, my friends and I would stop by to see Rooster, but he wasn't very kind. Our "good morning's" were greeted by "go away's". We felt sorry for Rooster and each gave him some of our own feathers.
One day as I made my way through the forest, I saw my friend Robin. I never could get Robin to notice me as I passed him by. One in a while, he would acknowledge me, but it usually made me more sad, for he never had anything nice to say to me.
As with most encounters, Robin ignored me. I sighed and kept going, but heard a voice in the trees. "I don't know why you bother," it said. "He's not going to notice you, or even if he does, he's not going to care."
"Who's there?" I asked, bewildered.
"It does not matter, just listen to me. You need to forget about Robin. He doesn't care, but I do." The Voice said.
"Who are you? What are you talking about?"
"Just forget about him okay? Do his feathers match yours?"
I didn't know. I've never been able to see myself whole. "I-I don't know, do they?"
"No, they do not. But I have eyes and wings and feet as you do, so listen to me. Forget."
Later in the day, I saw Blue Jay. I asked him if he had heard anything in the trees. He thought I was crazy, and then asked what had happened.
"What does he mean your feathers don't match, of course they do! Is your breast not orange?"
I looked down as best I could. "Well, yeah."
"Then listen to me, Robin is perfect for you, just try harder."
"We'll see," I said, though without promise in my voice.
The next morning, I was flying through the forest and saw Oriole singing sweetly. I tried to sing back to him, but my notes weren't nearly as sweet. I was so nervous, it sounded more like squawking.
"Little bird, what are you doing?" It was The Voice again. It was again coming from somewhere in the trees.
"Why do you ask? I was singing back to Oriole, only I don't think he liked my song," I replied.
"Why do you think that? Can't you see he watches you? I think he liked it."
"Well, I'm not so sure. I think he's very beautiful, but I don't think I-"
"Why are you even talking to me anymore?"
"What are you talking about?! You're the one that started talking to me!"
"But why listen? What could I know? I don't think you want to talk to me anymore."
I was very confused. Was The Voice jealous of Oriole? Why? I simply couldn't understand, since it was The Voice that had started talking to me!
"I'm sorry, I do want to talk to you, but why won't you show yourself to me?"
"Don't worry, little one. Are your wings not black like Oriole's?"
I extended my wings and looked. "Why yes, they are. But what color are your wings?"
"I have eyes and wings and feet as you do, so listen to me. You match Oriole."
I flew through the trees, trying to find The Voice, but nothing was there. I flew around, trying to find anyone to help me sort this all out, and saw my friends talking to Rooster. I recounted this new experience to them, and Rooster was the first to give his opinion.
"You don't match anything, you'll never find something like you!" he said.
"Well Rooster, you won't be matching anything yourself if you keep plucking your feathers. Knock it off, it's gross," I shot back. "In no time, you'll have no feathers of your own and only ours!"
"Well, I still think you match Robin," said Blue Jay.
"No, she's meant for Oriole. If she can't have Oriole, then how am I to have hope that I'll ever find my owl?" asked Snowy.
Raven said, "It's not your time. Things will be when they're meant to be."
Tanager let her opinion be known by pecking Rooster on the head and then flitted away.
The next morning, I saw Oriole again and tried to sing, and this time, I know I squawked. He cocked his head and looked at me, and I heard The Voice laughing at me.
"What is so funny?" I demanded. "Let me see you!"
"You do not need to see me. Just trust me. You are making a fool of yourself, but I still know you would choose him if you could."
"You are so conflicting! You tell me what you think and then offer more for me to think about. What am I to think? What do you want me to say? How can I know what I choose if I can't even see you?"
"I have eyes and wings and feet as you do, so listen to me. Trust me."
I was more frustrated than I had ever been, and tore through the tree tops trying to find anything, anything that would give away where the voice was coming from.
I flew back to where I knew my friends would be. Along the way, I think I passed Robin, but I can't be sure. When I found my friends, they were in an uproar. I went to see what the problem was, and I could not believe what I saw.
Rooster plucked all of his feathers completely out. "Rooster! What have you done to yourself?" I asked.
"I want to fly. I want to see what you see when you get to fly. I pluck my feathers out in hopes that flying feathers grow back in. Except it hasn't happened yet."
"We've told you Rooster," said Tanager, "you can't do something you weren't designed to do!"
"Ah, but you're wrong. You don't know how wrong you are."
"You hardly look like a rooster anymore, you now look like some mix between all of us. You're nothing but a piece of each and every one of us," Raven remarked.
"You couldn't possibly understand," said Rooster.
We then heard a cooing noise in a bush nearby. Blue Jay moved forward to see just what was there, when a tiny pigeon came waddling out from the brush. She made her way to Rooster's side and sat there proudly.
"Who are you?" asked Snowy. "Where have you come from?. I've never seen you here, and you are most certainly as out of place here as Rooster is."
"Pigeon is not out of place, she is mine. We belong in the same place together. I have her feathers as well." Rooster said cooly.
I was disgusted and flew away. I flew past Robin and made my way past Oriole as fast as I could. I couldn't be near Rooster. I couldn't stand to see what he had become, he was hardly a Rooster anymore. He became a piece of each one of us more and more with each feather he took. Surely, how could he be a rooster with the feathers of an owl? Or a raven? Or a tanager?
I sat for a while near a puddle, mulling over my thoughts. I peered into the puddle and noticed my reflection as if for the first time. It was true; I had an orange breast, as did Robin, and I also had the black wings of Oriole. But I was neither. I am a nuthatch.
I was startled to hear The Voice behind me, but more so to see that it belonged to none other than Rooster. He was the voice that had haunted me, that had tried to lead me astray.
I turned and nearly screamed, "You! It's been you this whole time! You took our feathers so that you could fly!"
"Of course I did, do you really think I'm so pathetic? Do you really think that I am as helpless as I put on? Nonsense. If not for Pigeon, I never would have thought of this. She's been here all along, only you were too stupid to see that."
"Why? Why would you do this? What satisfaction could you possibly get out of all of this?"
"It has very little to do with satisfaction. I don't care. I took pieces away from each and every one of you, and used you to get what I want. That's all there is to it. End of story."
"You're wrong, you're dead wrong. You're not a Rooster. Even under all of those feathers, you are still nothing but a chicken. That's all you are and that's all you ever have been. You may have fooled us for a while, but it's over. You are scum. You are nothing. You must not fly ever again."
Rooster tried to fly awkwardly away from me. He was not as graceful as he wished, since he was nothing but a composite. I had to stop him. I whistled. I squawked. I did everything in my power to attract attention to myself.
Oriole came rushing to my aid with his friend, Owl. I told them as much as I could as quickly as I possible. Oriole gave me a sad look that I may never understand, but quickly left to overcome Rooster and strip him of our feathers.
Rooster and Pigeon were forever banished from our forest. There comes a point where compassion runs out and all that you're left with is the startling image of how you have been used. You can only feign ignorance for so long. You can give away only so many pieces of yourself before you are left with barely enough of yourself.
We learned a lot, and discovered a lot of ourselves. I saw myself as whole without influence, and learned not to only see what I want. And Snowy didn't have to give up her hope after all, Owl came when she needed him, just not when she thought he would. I'll find a nuthatch someday, now that I know what I am looking for.
The End.
Haha, I still think that was the best indirect telling-off that I have ever done. (I mean, no, this was just about birds, not actual events! ;)) Remember the 26 comments we left about this? I just read them, and I still contend that they're funnier than the story.