This story can be read, listened to or watched.
A teenage starling struck my window today.
I rushed outside to find it in a feathery tangle on the ground.
It looked dead,
But as I approached, it lifted its head, beak hinging open in defence.
I picked it up with care and placed it beneath the leaves of my canna lilies.
Later, I went out, expecting it would have finished dying.
But it flew away as soon as I neared,
Unharmed.
With the near-death experience heavy on the starling's mind,
He returned to his family, hoping they would comfort him.
But each time he would fly again,
He feared striking another invisible wall like he did my window, and break his neck.
As such, he stopped flying in straight lines like everyone else did,
Opting for wide, sweeping arcs at a low speed.
But his family rejected his differences,
Afraid he would attract predators with his theatrics.
So, he decided to leave in the middle of the night,
Driven by a longing for adventure and self discovery.
Other starlings he encountered along the way witnessed his strange flying pattern and rejected his attempts to make friends with them.
Yet he continued travelling farther, searching,
Until one day he saw a strange V-shaped flock of birds heading south.
Geese.
They were much larger and faster,
But given they too had an odd method of flying,
He thought they might accept him.
It took some time, but eventually he caught up to the last goose on one arm of the V.
He reckoned their idea was to have one goose out front,
A brave goose,
Who would be the first to strike the invisible wall,
Should they come upon one suddenly, as he had that day at my house.
This goose would die, but would save the others from a similar fate.
As he followed the geese,
The starling also discovered that riding the tail of the goose made keeping up easy,
Because the wind was being deflected.
The geese paid him little mind,
Glancing back over their wide wings only briefly to assess his small significance,
Before continuing in their journey.
He followed them all the way down south,
Where he discovered the birds were more colourful,
And unimpressed by his plain brown coat of feathers.
Still, he stayed for the winter,
Relaxing in the warmth and indulging in the abundance of food,
Until the same V-shaped flock of geese passed overhead,
Returning north.
He hitched a ride,
Then found his way home where his family was waiting.
He told them stories of the south and the colourful birds,
And they listened with keen ears.
He taught new teenagers to beware of the invisible panes of glass.
He still flew in slow, sweeping arcs,
But the other starlings no longer seemed to notice.
A starling struck my window