The Bluebirds Were Her Friends 5/5
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A few weeks later Zareen left the cottage, too. She had packed a bag and ventured deep into the jungle, only to return a few hours later. She looked stunned, her expression distant as she reverently stroked her stomach with her fingertips. Mrs. Bluebird recognized the signs immediately: Zareen was pregnant. She shared the news with her husband, who was surprised but trusted his wife’s discerning eye regarding such matters.
Zareen was alone—or at least, she felt like she was. She could not begin to comprehend the sympathy her bluebird neighbors felt for her. They watched helplessly as her vibrant personality began to fade, the early trials of pregnancy sapping her strength. Observing Zareen’s struggle, Bonny felt a sharp pang of relief that bird pregnancies were much shorter than human ones.
Months passed and the bluebirds’ concern for Zareen grew to include a deep anxiety for their own family’s well-being. Lacking both strength and support, Zareen abandoned her garden, and the neglected plants withered. Tawny watched their primary food supply dwindle and wondered how much longer they could remain Zareen’s neighbors. Without the garden, they would be forced to forage deep within the jungle—a journey that could easily prove fatal. They needed to find a place with easier access to food, if not for themselves, then for their children, who were only weeks away from their first flights.
Tawny knew where they could go. Hearing Shay’s voice months ago had planted an idea in his mind, and it had taken root ever since. He leaned toward his wife to share his thoughts and gauge her interest.
“Our home-tree?” she asked.
Bonny sounded incredulous at first, but as she considered the idea, she found it had merit. They had family there—plenty of it. The trees of their childhood, and several surrounding groves, were populated by bluebirds who flocked there every time the Season of Wind returned. With the gifts Zak had bestowed upon them, Bonny knew that she and her husband could revolutionize the lives of every bird in the grove.
“Thinking about leaving?”
The Tash Snake mocked them from the ground. Ever since Shay injured it, the snake had struggled to climb. Its voice, however, maintained its venom.
Tawny hopped to the edge of the roof and peered down at the predator.
“You’d be wise to go, too, Tash! Look around! The garden is dead, just like the plants behind the house. How do you expect to ambush anyone when there’s nothing left to hide behind?”
Tash ignored the bird’s stinging criticism, though it lowered its head as it slithered away. Thanks to its injury, its movements were crooked and haphazard, drifting first to the left and then over-correcting to the right. Muttering curses, the indignant snake crawled across the yard to the well where it had once lived. Since the day it was hurt, the Tash Snake had been reduced to the indignity of hunting from the ground. It longed to see the world from above again—to look down on the earth as it used to, and as the birds still did.
The snake gathered its strength and pushed itself up the short wall, dragging the dead weight of its body behind it. It stopped at the top to catch its breath, closing its eyes and letting the sun warm its head to ease the ache. Once recovered, Tash climbed down into the cool darkness of the well toward its home: a hole created by an impatient tree root that had long ago forced a brick from the sidewall.
The Tash reached its upper body toward the opening and placed its chin on the entrance to its home. When it tried to move forward, however, the snake’s lower half could not support its weight, and it slipped. Its body flailed in midair until it crashed into the well’s bucket, abruptly arresting its descent. The bucket swung lazily on the end of its rope, with the Tash Snake coiled inside.
The fall had exacerbated its injury, and electrifying pain racked the snake’s long, prehensile body. It remained there in agony for days, its fury building with every passing hour. Tash knew that soon a human would come to the well for a drink, and when they did, the snake would strike repeatedly until its fangs stopped pumping venom. Concealed in the shadows of the wooden vessel, the Tash Snake waited for its vengeance.
Bonny and Tawny left with their children just days after their first flights. It was late in the Season of Wind, but with luck they would make it to their home tree before the season’s end. Even arriving early in the Season of Sun would suit their small family. When they departed, Zareen did not come out of her cottage to say goodbye, and just like Shay, the Bluebirds never saw her again.
Tawny visited the following year, and to his dismay, he found that a fire had destroyed the cottage, and Zareen was nowhere to be found. He returned to his wife with the unwelcome news. Bonny was sad with him for a time, but then she perked up. Zareen had faced a bear and won. She had thrived for years in the harsh Triarion jungle alone.
Tawny nodded. That was true. For a human, Zareen had proven to be unnaturally tough. Fires happened in the jungle regularly, whether due to lightning or human negligence. If there was anyone equipped to deal with such hardship, it was their friend. The Bluebirds vowed to return together someday, certain they would discover that Zareen had done well for herself.
THE END
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