A very long time ago there was a bird family sitting around their nest having a great time together. There was a mother bird, a father bird, and a baby bird – but he hated being called a baby bird because he was in fact almost a full year old. Here they were though, chirping away telling each other the silliest of things – things that seemed clever or thought provoking at the time – while nibbling away on the morning worms just like they did to start every day. They were quite proud of this in fact, always seeming to be the first family to grab the best worms at the earliest of hours. On this particular morning however, while listening to another one of his father’s stories, the baby bird gazed far off into the distance and asked his father what he thought was a simple question.
“Dad, what’s that way over there where the sky touches the land?” The father bird looked over to where his son pointed his beak and responded simply and with a confused look on his face, “I don’t see anything.” And he went back to eating his worm.
This answer didn’t satisfy the baby bird, not one bit. Every morning after that he would wake up and stare off into the distance wondering what happened where the sky touched the earth. He asked every bird he would meet but always got the same response. “Not sure, son.” “Doesn’t really matter anyway, does it?” “Mustn’t bother with such thoughts … it’ll drive a bird mad!” Not one single bird seemed to have the slightest interest in what it was, where the sky touched the land, so one day the baby bird set out to find out exactly what was there.
That morning, the baby bird walked to the edge of the nest and jumped, just like he’d seen his father do every day since he’d been born. But what he hadn’t seen his father do was tilt his wings, ever so softly, allowing him to fly up and away. Falling like a rock, baby bird’s life was flashing before his eyes. Fortunately, he’d lived such a short life that it didn’t take long to re-live, and when he was finished he noticed that he was still falling.
Out of instinct or luck or shear panic, the baby bird began flailing his wings around just in time to slow his fall and catch a big breeze that lifted him up, and up and up. Up past his nest where he had spent almost his entire life. Up past the top of the tree where he had spent his entire life. He was climbing so high now that he was beginning to wonder if it would have been better to have just fallen to the ground. And just then his eyes caught the horizon. It was bigger and stretched farther than he had ever imagined!
Having figured out how to fly, he remembered why he had taken that leap in the first place, to see what happened far off into the distance where the sky and land met. Baby bird was still new to flying, and he was a little concerned with being able to take off again if he were to land. He decided right then to fly as far as he could toward the place where the sky touched the land without stopping, so that he wouldn’t have to walk as far should he not be able to fly again. All those early worms he’d been eating must have paid off because the bird had more energy than he expected. He flew all through the night and into the next morning. Days and days of flying continuously, and he still wasn’t tired! Finally, after almost a month of non-stop flying, the baby bird hadn’t eaten a worm in a month and needed to rest. He spotted a nice pond just below and decided this was as good as any place to rest.
While he rested, he looked around and noticed what a nice spot he had found, plenty of water and worms “Even better tasting than the ones back home, he thought”. And as he relaxed in his setting, he began to remember all of the wonderful things he’d seen during his flight. The different plants and animals and some people too. He was all alone, though, and while he really enjoyed his new home he couldn’t help but want his family and friends to be here with him to share stories of all the things that he’d seen on his trip.
He noticed it was starting to get colder at night, and the days were getting shorter, too. He decide it was a good time to go back home to share his story with everyone. Waking up early the next morning, the bird – now no longer a baby – flew off into the distance from where he had come from.
After another month-long flight, he finally made it back to his home. When he arrived, everyone came to greet him with shout of joy, birds chirping everywhere telling everyone that the baby bird had been found! He began to share what he’d seen and done with them all, and continued to tell his stories throughout the winter months. After he had finished his last story, a handful of birds were so excited to see what he had seen, that they all decided to follow the same rout the little bird had taken.
Every year, more and more birds would follow the same route, seeing the same wonderful things, and sharing their own unique stories upon their return home. Centuries later, birds can still be seen flying off into the distance, trying to see where the sky touches the land.
THE END