Flight of the Five Swans
Feathered Chapter 22

The Swans

It is light.

It is light and there is pain.

Then it is over.

The flock walks on the groundbehind She Who Leads. The flock does notlike the ground, does not like to walk. She Who Honks wants to rest. ButShe Who Honks cannot rest. The flockcannot rest, must not rest. The flockmust walk. Walk on and on and on behindShe Who Leads. Walk on the hard path,the rough path. The path that hurts thefeet. She Who Honks must wait to rest. She Who Honks must walk. Walk on and on and on.

The trees do not end on theground. They end in the sky. The sky with the clouds. The sky with the wind. The sky where the flock should fly. But the flock should not fly, must not fly. It is important, remember! Remember! The flock must stay with Our Other. Our Other has wings that cannot fly. Our Other is grounded. The flockmust stay with Our Other, must protect Our Other. It is important. Our Other is important. Our Other will help the flock, so the flockmust help Our Other. Our Other is partof the flock.

There is a sound. She Who Fights honks. It is danger. Danger is close, too close to the flock. A fox approaches. The flock must defend, must protect Our Other and theflock.

Defend the flock. Hiss.

Bunch up. Hiss.

Lower necks. Hiss.

Spread wings.

Hiss. Hiss. Hiss.

Our Other walks towards the fox,walks towards the danger.

Honk! Honk! Danger! Danger!

Our Other does not listen to theflock. Our Other does not fear thedanger. But the fox fears OurOther. The fox runs away. The danger is gone. No more need to defend, no more need to bunch. No more need to lower our necks or spread ourwings or hiss. The fox is gone, thedanger is gone.

The flock can walk on.

The flock must walk. The flock should not fly, must not fly. It is important, remember! Remember!

Our Other must eat. She Who Knows replaces food for Our Other, tofeed to Our Other. The food is good,with many legs. But Our Other does noteat. Our Other does not like the goodfood. The flock should not fly, must notfly. It is important, remember! But Our Other must eat. She Who Steals flies, flies far to replace moregood food, food for Our Other. Good foodthat Our Other will like. Our Other musteat. Our Other does eat. Our Other likes the far good food. This is important, remember! Remember!

She Who Leads stops, so the flockmust stop. There are two paths, twopaths to follow. But the flock canfollow only one. The flock cannot split up, must not split up. The flock must stay together, together withOur Other. To protect Our Other. To help Our Other. It is important. Our Other is important. Our Other is part of the flock. The flock can follow only one path.

She Who Leads must choose thepath. The flock will follow She WhoLeads. One path smells different. It is not the same as the forest. It is a good smell, a better smell than theirpath. The new path smells of water, ofponds, of swimming. The path smells ofreeds, of plants, of foods. Of air and of clouds and of sky. She Who Leads must choose the path. The flock will follow She Who Leads. She Who Leads picks the new path with thegood smell.

The flock can walk on.

She Who Honks wants to rest. But She Who Honks cannot rest, should notrest, must not rest. The flock mustwalk. The flock should not fly, must notfly. It is important, remember! Our Other has wings that cannot fly. Our Other is grounded. The flock must stay with Our Other. The flock must not fly. She Who Honks must wait to rest but does notwait to rest. She Who Honks sits on thehard path, the rough path. The path thathurts the feet.

But the path hurts the feet nomore. The path is not hard, notrough. The path feels different. The path is smooth, the path is soft. Thepath makes She Who Honks sleepy. She WhoHonks wants to rest, wants to sleep, needsto sleep. She Who Honks must notsleep. The flock must walk on. She Who Honks must be woken. Our Other tries to wake She Who Honks. Our Other nudges She Who Honks. She Who Honks sleeps on. Our Other is too gentle.

She Who Steals is not gentle.

Bite.

She Who Honks hisses. She Who Honks is mad. She Who Honks is awake.

The flock can walk on.

She Who Knows replaces more food forOur Other, good food that Our Other likes. Our Other eats the good food. Itis far good food, the same good food. But it is far no more. She WhoKnows did not fly, but She Who Knows still replaces good food. The good food tastes different, but Our Otherlikes the taste. And She Who Stealslikes the taste. She Who Steals takesthe good food that Our Other likes. SheWho Knows is not gentle.

Bite.

She Who Steals still eats the goodfood.

There is a sound. She Who Fights honks. It is danger. Danger is close, too close to the flock. There is a new smell, a strange smell.

It is Other.