The egret
The little egret feared a few things.
It was worried its mother would forget her way back to the nest one day. It told its siblings of this abiding fear. They smiled knowingly and said, "Its never going to happen. Give me one good reason why mum would lose her way.". The nagging fear never went away. It eventually learnt not to voice them.
It worried over its lack of true friends. All its books had stories of enduring friendships. It became friends with a few, always in linear order, never letting itself be drawn into a group. One day, one friend snatched its morsel. Months later another flew away to a different part of the forest. It never stopped missing these two friends.
It feared death due to inaction and inertia. It wanted to be everywhere and be part of every forage for food. Some forages were successful, many were not. Every evening spent worrying about the next forage took something out of it.
The egret enjoyed a few things.
When the mood struck, it loved flapping its wings and soaring up towards the sun. Its loved doing somersaults and backflips and being the genial goof.
It loved hurtling from place to place never being asked to strike roots.
Slowly, the egret grew up. Growing up was hard. It was no longer the future, it was the present. The realisation paralized it. All it wanted to do was to fly to a remote aerie and sleep. It couldn't speak to anyone for help because this was a journey it had to make alone.
Quietly, it waited for a sign, a hint, an Oracle to point out the North Pole so it could navigate the world just its father had those years ago.
It was worried its mother would forget her way back to the nest one day. It told its siblings of this abiding fear. They smiled knowingly and said, "Its never going to happen. Give me one good reason why mum would lose her way.". The nagging fear never went away. It eventually learnt not to voice them.
It worried over its lack of true friends. All its books had stories of enduring friendships. It became friends with a few, always in linear order, never letting itself be drawn into a group. One day, one friend snatched its morsel. Months later another flew away to a different part of the forest. It never stopped missing these two friends.
It feared death due to inaction and inertia. It wanted to be everywhere and be part of every forage for food. Some forages were successful, many were not. Every evening spent worrying about the next forage took something out of it.
The egret enjoyed a few things.
When the mood struck, it loved flapping its wings and soaring up towards the sun. Its loved doing somersaults and backflips and being the genial goof.
It loved hurtling from place to place never being asked to strike roots.
Slowly, the egret grew up. Growing up was hard. It was no longer the future, it was the present. The realisation paralized it. All it wanted to do was to fly to a remote aerie and sleep. It couldn't speak to anyone for help because this was a journey it had to make alone.
Quietly, it waited for a sign, a hint, an Oracle to point out the North Pole so it could navigate the world just its father had those years ago.