By Tiffin
© 1999 Tiffin, all rights reserved
The wind baffled at her tired wings. Even as she tucked her beak between the feathers upon her chest the sleet blew around her, clinging to her feathers as if icicles on a beamed roof. The pine tree she hunched in offered little protection from the winter storm even though she was on the branch closest to the trunk.
Cussing herself for not paying attention as she flew over the unfamiliar terrain the last two days, she knew the signs of a storm brewing up and should have listened to the warnings. Squirrels darting about with nuts and pine-cone's, arguing with each other who was to carry the items back to the nest to store. Rabbits brown fur splotched with huge white patches as they bounced around digging burrows deeper in half-frozen ground. Waxwings fluttering in and out the safe haven of birch trees in swarms to conserve their body heat. Morning frost lasting till noon on brown grass. Edges of streams frozen, making her venture farther on its icy crust to quench her morning thirst. The red foxes crazed glaze at her as she rested on low branches out of his reach of the jaws he licked. All signs that winter was upon her.
Had she even listened to the black bear with her cub? No, just laughed as she watched the overweight mother bear pushed and cajoled her cub into the den stating, "Winter is here. Time for a nap my little one." The woolly little black ball of fur running down the slight hill giggling at his mother as she clambered after him grabbing him by the cuff to drag him back to their winter den.
Shaking the sleet off her feathers once more she twisted her head to relieve the throbbing coldness that was settling in her aching bones. Pulling one claw up she picked at the ice that had formed on the talons. With a final fluff, she placed her beak once more beneath the warm feathers on her chest; allowed her eyes to close for much needed rest. She knew the storm would eventually wear itself out and she needed to conserve her energy at the moment.
As she dozed, her dreams led her to a place and time she knew. The dark one was there. She knew them. Had held them close before. The dark one excited her as none before had. As much as she tried she could not remember their name. She called a name out to them but they only laughed and leaped further from her. Shouting out as they danced among the daisy's. "Catch me if you can!"
She raced after them begging them to stop, to let her catch up with them. She so desired to hold them, touch their lips, have her heart pound in a rhythm matching theirs, feel their warmth of naked skin against hers. To feel the dark one's hands cup around her fair breasts. To return the dark one's touches on their lush breasts. To reach that plateau of bliss only shared with one of the same.
With a jolt she became aware as she was flying over the rocky ground she had been daydreaming again. This trip south was taking longer than she had anticipated. The trip was taking weeks to complete and she was no closer to the spot on the map she had selected so long ago than she had been when she started this madness.
In fact she had been in flight all day, she had not even taken time to eat lunch or look for trinkets that might catch her fancy. Flapping her wings against the wind that was picking up, she glided to the birch tree whose leaves were long gone. Stirring the Waxwings into frantic flight around the grove of trees. As she settled in and looked around the area she felt a stirring of uneasiness, like she had been here before which could not be possible this was her first time this far south. With a loud caw and a noisy flap of her wings the old raven announced her arrival to all those that lived in this grove and meadow.
Below the branches she sat upon she watched the antics of a pair of squirrels chasing each other. She noticed a red fox circling a holly bush for the rabbit hidden in its foliage nibbling on tiny red berries. She laughed at the mother black bear and club. She cocked her head to hear the mother bear's words to her young male cub. "Winter is here. Time for a nap my little one." The woolly little black ball of fur ran off, dashing down the slight hill giggling at his mother as she clambered after him grabbing him by the cuff to drag him back to their winter den.