Photo by Chris Briggs on Unsplash
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, listens to the keeper as he stands out on the balcony in the dark of night and delivers a message to the millions of birds now flying invisibly through the night to get to more tolerable locations as the planet tips away from the sun:
“So you have fledged the young’uns and now head for places of relaxation and lack of responsibility. How do you do that? Asking for a friend.
“Somehow as the big tree branched out, you spun off from dinosaurs and yet ended up with the incredible power of flight. How did you do that? Again, asking for a friend who fell out of the big tree with the rest of the mammals who are born creeping, advance to walking and end up limping?
“I think of you up there now in the night, headed toward warm places as winter comes on, and given your “beak” structure, I wonder if it is possible for you to smile? Once more, asking for a friend who is not smiling at the prospect of being grounded at a latitude where snow is often ass-deep to a sandhill crane, all of whom will have long since flown south.
“Have a nice trip, and unless we humans use our superior intelligence to destroy the planet, we’ll see you next year. What do you think are the chances? Asking for a friend.”