Bird "Watcher"

Another one flew by. A robin? No, it was too big. Perhaps a hawk. No. Closer in size, but not enough noise to be a hawk.

"Are you sure it's not just the wind?" Asked a familiar voice. It was soothing, yet teasing at the same time. A can swiveled around, moving aside grass and leaves, to face this speaking 'bird'.

"It could be!" Cecilia knew standing out here in the field would not last forever. She was still human and she was getting hungry. "Is it dinner time, Cole?"

"Not yet." He found a spot next to her and helped her sit down. "How many have you identified?" he asked, as he played with the fallen leaves, moving them aside so that he would not disturb them when he eventually would stand up.

"Two, maybe three!" Cecilia replied, with her chin and nose competing for height.

"That one there being your third?" Cole pointed, but only because it was natural that he did.

"It's still here?" she asked, turning her head left and right trying to spot it in vain. It was only natural that she did.

"You bet! Would you like a hint as to what it is?"

Cecilia shook her head vigorously, almost whipping Cole in the face with her hair. Autonomy was an important quality for Cecilia, not one she was willing to surrender easily. Not even for a simple hint.

"A chicken or turkey?" She asked knowing that was probably wrong.

"Sounds like someone is hungry," Cole laughed. "But no. Why don't you walk me through your process."

Walk through the process? This was a request she had heard a thousand times before, and a thousand times she rejected it. It was just another form of hand holding. Disgusting! But maybe it was because she was hungry that this time, she grumbled, "Okay."

Cecilia heard Cole scribble something down. She didn't know he had brought any kind of writing tools with him, but that fact was quickly forgotten when he said, "Well?"

"Right, sorry," she pictured what had happened right before he came. "It was fast and big. That much I could tell."

"That rules out most small species." Cole calmly pointed out.

"I know, I know!" Cecilia whispered, frustrated. Her train of thought was interrupted by Cole's obvious statement. But her slight outburst was followed up by more sounds of scribbles. Words? Notes? Obviously notes he was writing. Cecilia wanted to ask what, but the bird...

"Go on," Cole said politely, ignoring her small spurt.

Cecilia sighed, then continued. "Despite its size and speed, it was quiet. I only knew it was big because it flew so close to me I could feel the gust of air. Well, thinking about it, not big, but large enough to eat a small rodent maybe. But what flies that quietly?"

The scribbling stopped and Cole looked up at her. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Of course it's rhetorical! I can figure it out myself, thank you! No hints!"

And no hints were given, but more notes were jotted. Then, she could hear the bird again, but this time it wasn't flying. It was hopping towards them. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! Crunching the leaves with each hop it did. It was a medium sized bird, but she still couldn't picture what it was. The noise did not help narrow it down. It only confirmed the few facts she already knew about it.

"It's still impressive that you are able to identify any birds," Cole said. "But there's no shame taking occasional support. I mean, you don't seem to have much shame using your cane. Why not me?"

Cecilia glared at Cole, or at least where she thought he was. "This is different!" She blurted in a mix of a hiss and a shout shaking her cane at him. She did not want her anger to scare away the bird. And yet, it did. She could hear the rustling of leaves. They swirled around and the bird quietly left her.

"Oh great! Now it's gone. Thanks a lot Cole!" But there was no response, only the sound of distant scribbling fading away. "Cole? Cole?"

Cecilia sat behind the glass window as an observer watched in a cold clinical room. A door opened from her room. Cole exited Cecilia's warm room and into this cold one handing the notes he had taken to the observer.

"The simple Barn Owl," Doctor Tashima muttered to Cole as he read through his notes. "One of the easier birds to identify if you have any decent knowledge on the species."

"Otherwise it is impossible to identify for people like her," Cole finished.

"Still not ready?" The doctor asked. "She is able to identify a surprising number of species."

Cole nodded with a deep sigh. "True, but you and I both know that part is minor. Intuition is one thing, but not accepting help will get you killed. She showed progress today, but I think its the end for her."

Doctor Tashima looked up from the notes, surprised, and asked, "Are you sure? She's one of the oldest subjects."

"That's exactly why I'm sure. By this point, most swallow their pride."

"But she does want help, why else would she be here? Why else do any of them come?" Doctor Tashima placed down the notes now fully focused on their conversation.

Cole shook his head. "She doesn't want help, Tashima. She wants to help herself. There's a big difference, and we can't help those who don't want it."

Almost hesitantly, Doctor Tashima gave in and said, "Very well. Shall I tell her family the prepared rejection excuse?"

"Yes."

"And, will you handle her? She won't like that we won't help her."

Cole was looking at Cecilia, but when Doctor Tashima asked this he whipped his head to face him. "It's not that we won't," he said, as he attempted to control his frustration. "It's only worth it if she's willing to accept the help. But she'll just need to accept the fact that she does not want to see again."

"But she does want to!" Doctor Tashima had not understood the process Cole had in place, but he never had to question it until now. Every other subject had succeeded Cole's test. This was the first one that had ever failed. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to question you, but I must ask. Why can't we still give her the formula. Why do we need to do all of this?"

Cole sighed and sat down on a nearby chair rubbing his forehead. Gathering his thoughts he calmed himself and said, "Doctor Tashima, you and I both know there's only so much of the formula to give. We must choose our subjects wisely. And if the heart is blind to help, there's little point in making the eyes see."