The Bird

Chapter Two

Desperate and lonely, Walter began to sing to himself as the winter set in. He did not stop, no matter the hour or even if he forgot the words. What began as a method of self soothing eventually woke a badger. An angry mother badger.
"You there! Tree!" she shrilled up at the crooning Walter.
Walter stopped mid-chorus, astonished.
"Can you hear me, Mother Badger?" (For only a mother could shrill in such a fashion, simultaneously commanding respect and scolding in so high of a pitch.)
"Course I can. Everyone bloody well can. Can't you stop that racket? Some of us are trying to sleep!"
"You...can hear me?"
"Wish I couldn't. Please do keep it down."
Walter's mind tried to work furiously, a difficult task now that everything flowed so slowly.
"Find me a wizard!" he shouted at the badger's retreating back.
She turned, blinked angry tired eyes at him.
"Do what?"
"Find me a wizard!"
The she-badger eyed the oak before her with no small amount of skepticism.
"And why should I do that?"
"Find me a wizard and I can leave this place! I can turn back to a man and take my leave! To walk again...to eat porridge...to sleep in my own bed, lying down..." if he'd had eyes, they would have misted over.
"You're out of your mind, tree." said the badger, turning again toward her den.
Walter launched again into song, with more gusto than before. This time complaint came from several directions at once until, finally,
"Where is there a blasted wizard, then?" came from high up a pine tree.
Walter ceased his song.
"Follow the river north from here for three days. On that sundown you will come to the doorstep of Vangard the Lonely. He lives in the side of the hill. Tell him of my plight, for he will know what to do."
An expectant silence hung in the clearing.
Walter felt several sets of eyes fix on him.
Then look at one another doubtfully.
Finally, the voice from the pine:
"Three days from right now?"
"What was that?"
"I mean, if I leave right now, tonight, three full days from this and then the sundown from that? So that would be four days, really. Should I wait til morning, and then three sunsets from that? Does this take into consideration the first sunset?"
"Look, I --"
"And how do you know how fast I will be going? Are you allotting time for sleep or shall I fly straight through the night? I am flying, by the way. Did you take that into account?"
"Now see here. I've given you very detailed instructions. All you need to do is follow the river --"
"You haven't been clear at all! You wizards! 'Follow the path north until you see the tree that somewhat resembles a rhinoceros --'"
"Now, see here --"
"'Tumpty-tumpty, stars align --'"
"Now you're just being rude!"
"And you're being vague! Where am I going?"
Walter, who knew he'd lost his dramatic build up (always a must, he felt, where quests were concerned) sighed and tried to slump. However, trees don't slump. The best he could do was shake his branches a bit.
"I've never been there." he muttered quickly under his breath (trees can mutter).
"Beg pardon?" asked the voice.
"I said I've never been there. That's the only way I know of to get there. I've never even met him." this last bit was also muttered very quickly.
"What?"
"I said I've never met him! And will you please come down so I can see who I'm talking to?"
A sparrow flitted into the clearing.
"Never met him? Don't know where he lives? You're sure this Vangard the Lonely will help you?"
"He must!"
"And why is that?"
"Because he is my only hope."

After a bit more bickering that yielded no more specifics than Walter's initial directions had laid out, the sparrow set off on his journey. He followed the river north, now and again stopping to ask other birds if they had heard of this Vangard the Lonely. Some had, but none could give him better directions.
Just over one day into his travels, the sparrow got an odd feeling.
Some would call it fate.
Some would call it destiny.
The sparrow called it a wing cramp and landed in a small village to rest a bit, vague directions be damned. He was already making good time.
In that small village the sparrow found a wizard.

Though the knowledge may not be common, it is nonetheless a fact that animals do not see humans in the same way that humans see each other.
The main difference is that they are not as easily deceived by outward appearances. For example, a beautiful person with many admirers and an air of confidence can easily win over a crowd of other people and bend many to their will. But if that same beautiful person is hurtful, spiteful, or cruel beneath their perfect skin, a dog will know in an instant. Animals are keen on what lies beneath the surface. They are quick to spot a person's true self, even when that person cannot see it themselves.
This was why they could so readily accept a tree singing and giving directions to an unknown wizard in a hill. It was not merely a tree before them, it was a tree shaped man. The fact that they could accept this as a simple truth goes to show that the tolerance of animals far exceeds the tolerance of humans.
The sparrow saw in colors.
For him, wizards gave off a complex glow of greens and yellows. When Walter told him to go and find a wizard, he was very specific. Or so thought Walter. When you came right down to it, Walter himself -- he that was doing the sending -- was not even entirely certain that this other wizard existed.
What if, the sparrow reasoned, this Vangard the Lonely wasn't there? Or what if he was and didn't want to rush to the aid of a wizard he himself didn't even know?
Why fly another day if either of these outcomes were a possibility when there was a wizard right in this small village? Then there was the matter of his cramping wing to take into consideration. Really, he wasn't built for long distance flights. He supposed that this was one of the reasons that House Sparrows did not migrate.
He rested for a bit on the roof he'd landed on, taking in his surroundings. He couldn't quite tell where the wizards was at the moment, only that there was one close by. Their magic left a faint glow, and the sparrow could see dim traces of it here and there around the village.
The sparrow had not encountered many wizards in his time, but thought he sensed something different about this wizard's trail. Something slightly off. He decided that if this one didn't work out he'd set out to find that Vangard person. It just seemed a shame, passing up a wizard this close to the forest he'd just left.
The sparrow took wing and began his hopeful search, nearly certain it would not be in vain.

Author's Note

Thanks much for reading, if reading is what you've done! Comments are welcomed here!

Reviews

[A. H. Pinley]

I like this a lot. You have given birth to great imagery. I will read the next chapter. Good job!

[JLGottschalk]

Thank you, I appreciate that!

[SweetNutmeg]

I too am looking forward to what comes next.

[JLGottschalk]

Thank you! I appreciate the read and review very much.

[Peninsula Pariah]

Nice work. Read it to my daughter. We are ready for the next chapter...

[JLGottschalk]

Thank you! I am so excited that someone is looking forward to more of this! It will be posted soon...