The Eagle & The Hummingbird

(continued from The Owl & The Hummingbird, Feb 27)

Perhaps hoping to find salvation from her doubts, the hummingbird embarked on a journey of self-discovery. She traveled far, further than she had ever flown, to a land never before seen by hummingbirds. She met many strange creatures, saw many breathtaking sights and darted among many unknown flowers.

Of her memories of that foreign land, one particularly stood out, not just because it was memorable, but for the ripples that this experience produced in her lake of troubles. It was a memory that will remain while almost all else fades, for it brought her closure in an unexpected way. Neither entirely joyful, nor entirely sad; it was, at the very least, a memory with a question.

She met an eagle.

An eagle not like any other, but an eagle who taught her to soar high above the clouds; an eagle who showed her another view of the world, not just peeking between the most alluring flowers, but from above the tallest trees; an eagle with a completely different way of living.

The hummingbird was enthralled. At that moment, she wanted to leave everything behind. Innocently, she thought she could start afresh in that new place, where noone knew her past, and noone cared.

Back home, the owl knew something was going very wrong. The hummingbird had promised him that she would return after one week. A week went by but there was no sign of her. Thinking that she might be delayed and hoping for the best, the owl patiently waited. When ten days passed without a trace of the hummingbird, the owl decided to search for her.

Soon, the owl also arrived at that strange land. When the hummingbird revealed her intentions, the owl was crushed. He tried to make her realize what a big mistake she was making. Despite her protests, the owl insisted on remaining with the hummingbird until she was willing to return.

The hummingbird's journey was proving to be a bigger dilemma. Instead of easing her worries, her trip brought more doubts. In a foreign land with strangers, the hummingbird had noone else to turn to but herself. She thought long and hard, her mind working like a pendulum, swinging from one decision to another.

She knew, by now, how much the owl truly loved her. And she wondered if she would ever find another bird who loved her as much as the owl did.

She wondered if she would ever find another bird who would understand her as well as the owl did, or another bird that she would understand just as she understood the owl.

She wondered if she was taking a worthwhile risk.

And all through her wonders, there was that one question that made her memory what it was.

"To stay or not to stay?"

(continued in Finale, March 19, 2005)