Fly With Your Heart

Chapter Eight

     Throughout the rest of the day, the storm grew worse. The clouds became darker, the winds blew stronger, and the rain fell harder. Kinosew and I were standing huddled in the pine box, staring out at the scene. As night fell, the fake lights turned on around our prison. They weren't as bright as usual, for the storm cast a dark hazy glow over everything.

     The air was damp, and the sky black. The only reason I could see was because of the orange lights. The box walls rattled, and neither Kinosew nor I could sleep. We stuck close together for warmth, the cold, ice wind air reaching our skin through our feathers.

     I tossed my head, scattering water droplets in all directions. Kinosew grumbled about something, and I sighed. Tonight would be a long night. Just then, a terrifying groaning echoed through the night. A great splintering sounded, and a crack spit the air. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and the old pine tree fell towards our cage.

     I almost didn't notice it, as my mind was sluggish with tiredness. But I began to panic as the trunk of the tree hit the cage ceiling. I shrieked in alarm, flapping my wings and nocking into Kinosew. My cagemate cried out as well, almost trying to fly away in the small, confined space. Other birds from other cages near ours panicked as well.

     The tree didn't fall through, though. It rested along one of the cage edges. I almost wailed in sadness. "It almost broke the cage!" I called to Kinosew through the raging storm. "We were almost free!"

     The older bird shook his head. "Look at how big it is, it still might." I turned around hopefully. The tree poles holding the fence together groaned, whining with the wind. A new thought came to me.

     "The trees look flimsy, weak... what if we helped them along?" Kinosew looked at me.

     "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

     I nodded solemnly. "If you had a chance at freedom, wouldn't you take it?" He smiled and hopped out, heading for the pole opposite our corner. I glided out to the one along our wall, landing at its base and studying it carefully. The wood was soggy, not really old, but not really new. Hopefully, it would be soft enough for me to pull apart.

     I dug my beak into the material, and pulled. The pole shook, and I reared my head back further. The wood in my beak started falling apart, and I realized that the inside was rotten. Termites crawled out, dazed by the sudden change of scenery.

     I shuddered, and so did the broken tree. The pine started sinking, cage walls sagging and bending under the weight. A great groan sounded, and lightning flashed. Thunder boomed just seconds later, and the tree finally fell. "Kinosew, get out of the way!" I shrieked, flapping my wings madly to reach the sleeping box in the corner. I have to get there, I have to, or I'm a dead bird. I have to believe I will make it! My heart thrummed, soared, and I believed.

     We reached it just in time, for a great expanse of prickly branches fell through the ceiling and broke the cage. I buried my face into Kinosew's wings, body shaking with terror. And just like that, the noises stopped. The tree had fallen, and there was now a huge, break in the fence. The mesh had bent and there was a rip along the ground. I gasped in joy. "Kinosew, we're free!"

     "Yes, Kîsik, we are! You flew!"

     My heart stopped for a moment. I Flew? And then I realised, I had flown! Just before the tree had hit me, I picked myself up and flew to this box. I remembered thinking that I had to believe... that I had to believe I could make it, and I did. I felt a new change in my heart, a wisdom that was realised and added. "The saying means to believe that you can fly in your heart; to 'fly' with it! I know what 'fly with your heart' means!" I cried, speech stumbling and body trembling with excitement.

     Kinosew's eyes filled with tears, or perhaps that was just rainwater. "I'm so proud of you... you've really grown. Now, let's leave this place."

     I smiled, and turned to the opening in the sleeping box. We flew out, and swooped under the fence. I'm free! I thought, as the wind pulled on my wings and pushed me higher in the air. Kinosew and I were passing over the other cages, when I noticed the other birds.

     A trio of falcons, a lonely owl, and a cage of songbirds watched us fly away sadly. I turned to my friend. "Kinosew, we should try to free them too!" He looked down, and made the same decision as I.

     We dove, each heading to a different cage. I went to the owl, and as I found the door and picked at the lock, she caught my eye and spoke softly, "thank you..." I cooed in return, frowning as the lock didn't give way. Then, I somehow pulled something up and to the right, and the door swung open.

     The tawny owl hooted in delight, bursting free and heading for the songbird's cage. She launched herself at the lock, breaking it and releasing them. "Fly free!" She called, "be prisoners no more!"

     Kinosew and the hawks shrieked in delight, climbing the air. I joined him, and we parted ways. I followed him to a leaf tree at the entrance to the white Creature nest. "Kinosew, I need to go to the mountains," I asked, "do you know where they are?"

     My friend's eyes blurred, leaving to a different time. "I... remember I was taken here in a metal beast, and I got a good glimpse of the horizon once before I was put in the cage. They were in the direction the sun rose." I nodded eagerly. "I want to go there too."

     We waited in the tree for dawn. We slept, and were awoken in the morning by a growling noise. I opened my eyes blearily, and looked down. There, on the flat gray path crouched a metal beast. I jerked Kinosew awake, and we stared at it.

     Out of it, stepped one of the Featherless Creatures. She started making her way into the white nest, but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed us. She barked angrily, and ran over, trying to reach up. I realized she was trying to grab the strings tethered to our talons, and I shrieked in outrage.

     No one would cage me again. I was free, and I intended on staying that way. I cawed and flapped my powerful wings, rising in the chilly morning air. Kinosew was slower to respond, but he got free as well. The Creature cried out in sadness as she watched us fly away.

     "Where are the mountains?" I asked again. Kinosew turned around and headed in a direction where a soft yellow glow sparkled through the mist. As the sun rose higher, the fog burned away, revealing the jagged peaks in front of us. I whooped in joy. "We did it!" I cried, "we're free!" I felt the exhilaration fill my bones. We rose higher in the sky, and I truly felt like an eagle now.

     I realized, that when I had 'flown' or left my nest, I had been missing something. I had been terrified, and I had known that I couldn't do it. So, I didn't believe, and I didn't fly. Now, I was almost home. I was so close to finding my family, and I could barely contain my excitement.

     My stomach rumbled, and Kinosew laughed. "We'll find something to eat once we're in the mountains, don't worry."

     The mountains, I thought, I'm home!