The Bird

part of the #BePositiveWriteNow project

The thick black oil lapped the Arctic coast like a smothering blanket.  Nothing could escape it.  Rocks and animals alike were caked in it, even weeks after the main spill.

A young Bird claws out of the murky depths of the sea covered in the blackness, breathing heavily, and exhausted from the fight.  Standing on the shore looking out towards the ocean, the Bird realises everything is gone.  Everyone is gone.

She walks with extreme difficulty over to where authoritative-looking, crisp black Ivory Gulls were watching her with interest and sympathy.  They feel a kindred spirit towards her, not just because she was another bird, but because her feathers were stained black, and looked like an Ivory Gull.  The elder of this little group slowly walks over to the young Bird and helps usher her closer to the group, droplets of black oil marking each of the Bird’s claw steps.

Almost instantly, she sets about learning the ways of her new family.  There is very little time to mourn in this, one of nature’s harshest climates.  There are many rules, codes and laws to learn, and she did with much enthusiasm.  As soon as she can fly, she joins the rest of the group in gliding around the coast helping others who have been caught up in the spill.

The main rule was that she could not leave the coast, something all Ivory Gulls abide by, as they aren't sure if they could survive the flight to the nearest land mass.  Initially, this isn't a problem, but as time goes on, a feeling deep within her heart keeps eating at her; surely there is more to see out there? Where did the sun go? She has more questions than answers and isn't content to not find them out.

On one particular day, she spies some other gulls in trouble, trying to clamber free of the suffocating blackness.  Swooping down to help, she lands on a piece of ice that is unstable, and before she knows it, she has fallen into a pool of melted crystal clear water.  The shock of the water blasts the air out her tiny lungs and the chill goes deep into her bones.  The pool water feels colder than the ocean itself.

Despite learning all the rules and laws of being an Ivory Gull, she once more finds herself crawling out the water in desperation and exhaustion.

The family that took her in soon spots her and flies down to help.  As soon as they land, they jump back in shock because the once stained feathers of the Bird are now clean, and she isn't black as they first thought, but a brilliant white colour.  She is an Arctic Tern, a small traveller of the bird world who flies relentlessly towards the southern hemisphere each year.  

This revelation is why she has that aching feeling in her heart; she isn't meant to stay in one place.  She is expected to experience the world.

The family that had taught her the rules and laws knew that she would have to leave to fulfil her destiny, and so did nothing to stop her.  Noble creatures with kind hearts, they gather at dusk as the Bird takes off into the horizon.  With her wings gathering pace she realises that she could still see the world even when the rules of life tell otherwise.  Nothing was impossible.

Author's Note

These stories are inspired by real people, and are written within 30 minutes or so in front of that very person, with the aim to spread positivity through social media, so please keep that in mind if critiquing.