Welcome to Gaia! ::

((^_^ just put in some random title *sweat*))

Sunlight seeped out of the edges of the earth. Luis, as she had come to know the young human, had left the house in which they resided. In the night, he spoke of an old friend and turned to deep thought. The wind rapped against the window. It wasn't that she was poorly treated. Luis treated her with a strange ginger negligence where she was often left to roam on her own. The window was always cracked open enough for her to slip through, in her own heavy flapping manner. Sea ducks were built tough to withstand the sea, but beautiful, to mimic it. This clangula hyemalis however, sought refuge in the elegance of the city during winter.

She hadn't seen the other Birds in a while, or the store she used to frequent. She wouldn't say she wanted to return. She liked Luis in his human complexities, his strange sense of beauty and meaning. The odd serenity his embrace offered gave her a comfort piqued with curiosity. Slowly, she would learn more of this boy.

But Birds needed there time to flock together, too! "ow, owdle ow!" she cried as she vaulted herself into the sky, flapping and calling as she went. It was true she was a lone duck, as far as ducks went, but she enjoyed the company of other birds just as well. Today her flight plan was an ambiguous blur of movement across the city. First to the park, or maybe the school where Luis attended on and off.

Spotting a comfortable looking pond, the duck glided down, her long twin tails flicking back and forth in the air. Flapping and quacking she made her landing in a nearly deserted park, the few mallards and canada geese who called the green pond their winter home squawking shortly in protest before unruffling their feathers and returning to their swimming.

She moved her webbed feet through the murky water, swimming in a circle as she looked about with curiosity.

A odd noise reached the long tailed duck's ears, making her turn in the still water. She spotted a sleek black bird, hopping back and forth on a barren tree limb with his feathers puffed up like a clown. There had been a knocking noise that sounded vaguely like the beak of a wood pecker. A loose piece of bark fell from the tree, drifting down to the dry grass below. That bird certainly wasn't a wood pecker. A small pile of wood shavings had formed at the base of the tree.

"Meeeeow," purred the bird, quickly introducing a wide reperatoire of sounds with a "Ho ho" that almost sounded like a human "hello". The birds glided on the top of the water, unperturbed by the racket the crow was making. Was this a regular occurance, or was she just the only one to notice?

Intrigued, the young duck swam towards the tree and the verbose bird who inhabited it. Drawing back her neck she cooed (as best a loud duck could) a soft "gut, gut" noise, mimmicking her feeding call.

As she reached the edge of the pond, she raised her head to stare up at her fellow avian. Were all city crows like him?

The duck peered at the stick, then at the black raven who had eargerly hopped down from his perch to greet her. Ow-owdling, she popped out of the pool of murky liquid, dipping up and down as she stepped toward the strange Bird. She lowered her head to inspect the stick, sniffing at it. It reminded her of french fries.

The old squaw cocked her head, mimmicking the other bird's spastic movement. Bending her neck to pick up the bare stick, her voice formed the soft "gut, gut" sound.

She was intrigued by the raven. The dry grass quaked back and forth in a light wind that carried the murmur of the city past in waves of cold air. Other animals and machines moved past. In constant motion, the other bird always seemed like he had one thing or the other to attend to. This way, long tailed duck regarded him with interest. She felt time slowly, the way it feels immersed in water. The light filters down through a curtain of green seawater like the aurora borealis. Or maybe it was that time seemed to pass her by.

She let the gentle rocking motion of the world bare her where it would.

A bird who went and left as he pleased. The sun was covered by fat grey clouds. Her eyes reflected their dark light dark coats in white-specked beady black holes. Twin tails swished back and forth in the winter wind.

In winter, the skies froze over. The duck watched the raven fly away as if he were free and she was bound. The water in the pond was clear.

She flapped her wings and was off the ground. Tilting side to side haphazardly, the duck got off the ground and the dull pond with its tiny white dancing birds and lifting into the crisp air.

She could just see the black bird's glint along the city street-at least, she thought. It was not a matter of attachment, but curiosity. This was something much more interesting than spending a dayat the park reducing brain matter.

She felt the wind in her wings and the smell of the city, stagnated in the park, opressive and violent once again. Fast food, car fumes, blood and grease worked their way into her nostrils. Back and forth her wings flapped frantically to keep her upright. Where had the other bird gone?

A siren went off. The blue lighted streets were long twisting sand bars where flocks of people gathered en mass, grooming themselves for mites and eating and speaking and huddling together for warmth on cold days. She had quickly found the raven flying down the street, and followed him casually, daring another character to draw her interest. She almost didn't see him disappear into an open window.

Unlike the alala's graceful swoop, the old squaw had to work for a stop, missing the window and then having to flap labouriously to bring herself to the empty sil. She tumbled into the warm, carpeted room squawking loudly. Loose feathers fell about her, framing her dark light dark figure like phosphoressence on the water.

Arighting herself with a most unduck-like shaking, she dropped the stick she had claimed from her mouth. Yes, ungainly as she was, the duck had managed to keep the stick in her possession. Some how, she thought it fitting to use the stick as a trade for the comfort of the windless room. What a strange place she was in, indeed!

The long-tailed duck in quesiton stared up at the woman with wide, beady eyes. The raven was not a common bird, at all! He had a human companion, like her Luis, only much more female and with blonde hair. The black bird landed on her shoulder, after fluttering about the room in a short fit of surprise. She stood over the other bird, confused.

Her mouth moved, unintelligable sounds forming words rolling out of her pursed lips. The warmth of the room swallowed the bird. The walls were glowing with light from the outside. Click click click went the shot gun.

The raven took the offering and tilted his head. click click click. The Old Squaw waddled forward, inspecting the other bird's human. She smelled nice. Was she nice, then? She uttered a calm gut-gut-gut-gut, ducking up and down to get a better view.