Finding the Future

The sun was peaking over the horizon and the morning mists curled around the trees like lovers. Gentle caresses felt best during the early morning hours when sleep was still within your grasp. Flashes of red bodies with yellow and blue tipped wings could been seen as the flock gathered. It was December here in the rain forest and the season was upon everyone. Mating calls could be heard throughout the early morning air. The males had been preening for weeks to make sure they possessed the most vibrant feathers. After all, being the biggest and the strongest was not the only thing a female cared for, though it counted for a lot. Two seasons had passed without him find a mate but this season was his. He could just feel it. She was out there, born especially for him. You see, when a Scarlet Macaw found his mate, it was for life. He never strayed, never looked elsewhere. He would be by her side all the time unless she was nesting and he was bringing food. Oh how he was looking forward to preening his mate, cleaning her lovely plumage. Keeping her healthy and radiant, as he was sure she would be. As the sun reached the tops of the trees, the calls and more songs began to fill the air as more flocks appeared on the horizon.

She flew in her birth flock, the massive gathering coming into view. This was her first season and though she knew what a mate did, she wasn’t sure if she would find one yet. She was still unsure if any male would catch her eyes yet there were so many calling out. The noise was beautiful as it was deafening with multiple flocks converging on the grounds. As her flock grew closer, she split off. Being a bit rebellious, she liked to sit higher in the tress. Yes, a hawk could grab her if she were too much higher but she knew the safe limit. Just high enough that she could feel the fresh breeze ruffle through her feathers but still hidden enough in the foliage that she was hard to spot for the avian predators. She watched the comings and goings of pair after pair fly off as the day grew warmer and the humidity settled. The sun was passing its highest point when she heard it, a trill sounded through the air that made her head snap to the left. Her heart beat faster at the sound as she searched for the owner of the melody that now sounded inside her heart.

There! He thought, across the clearing sat the most beautiful female he had ever seen. She was on the smaller side with beautiful red feathers sweeping down her back, with blue and yellow joining in to her sweeping tail feathers. She was sitting higher up that most of the others, her wings tucked careful against her sleek body. Oh she was breath taking, his call having drawn her attention toward him. He spread his wings, flapping, and sounding his song for her again. He felt it the moment her eyes found him and a cord pulled tight between them. He took off, swooping high and then low headed straight for the branch that she was perched on. As he neared he watched her breath accelerate, so carefully he attached one of his feet between hers and placed his other foot beside hers.

She stared down at the male as he hung upside down from the branch beneath her feet. He cooed at her as he tilted his head to the side, taking her in. Her breath rushed in an out quicker as he pulled his body up, displaying his wings by splaying them out behind him. Her head twisted this way and that as she took in his splendor. His wing span was the length of her whole body and the red was decorated with blue and yellow feathers that the sun light glinted off of. She tipped backward, fighting the urge to flee as he pulled closer to her, his melodic cooing soothing her desire to bolt.

He pulled closer, brushing his beak against her belly first, watching to the signs she would flee. He would give chase but he wanted her to feel comfortable with him. The coo continued to sound from his throat as he pulled himself up toward her. She briefly flapped her wings, giving him space to fully seat on the branch next to her but her eyes never left his body. Slowly he inched his face forward, brushing his beak across her shoulder, down her wing before gently pulling one into his beak and cleaning it. All the while she held still, observing him clean her feathers like her father cleaned her mothers. When his beak brushed across her face in a gentle caresses she couldn’t stop the soft coo that left her. He brushed against her again and she responded by pushing back against him, sweeping her face against his.

He felt joy lift his heart as she began to return his affection, grooming his feathers as he groomed hers. His mate, he had found her. Elation lifted his spirits as he lifted his wings to take off. He glanced at her to see if she was ready and she had extended her sleek wings to match him. He dove off the brunch, followed closely by her. He led the way, knowing a hollow tree near the Edge that would be perfect for their nest. He beat his wings, playfully swinging to and fro engaging her in his playfully nature. At first she would just peek at him, trying to see why he had gotten so close to her. Slowly, as he continued he could see understand dawn in her eyes and she began to weave around him and through the branches of the trees. She was having so much fun that she didn’t notice him pulling back until she had broken through the Edge and into an empty brown space. Startled she pulled back and hovered in the air surveying the dead looking Earth that expanded in front of her. She heard the calming call of her mate and turned toward him. He was perched in a tree on the Edge watching his mate’s reaction to the emptiness that had been left behind after the tress had been taken. She landed softly at his side and nuzzled into him. She had never seen this type of devastation before, having grown in the deeps of the jungle. He watched the process flit across her face, their home was shrinking. Would their babies have a chance?

He cooed toward her, brushing his beak across her cheek and nuzzled her neck. He beckoned her back toward the tree that they would build their home and raise their young in. It was far enough away from the Edge that she would not see it every day. But no longer would she believe that the green world they lived in was endless. It had an end and that end was moving closer every year. The massive hole was easily seen and he nudged her into it. Preening as she explored the large space. They would need more cushion for the eggs but this was a respectable place. Nice hard exterior wood and the interior was softer wood she could barely wait to chew on. She walked over to him to push against the underside of his beak, showing her approval and appreciation.

They worked as a team to make a nest before she laid her eggs, soft leaves and pines from the forest surrounding them but she made sure to avoid the Edge. She didn’t like to think about the end of their home being so close. The days after laying the eggs, she mostly slept on them, keeping them warm as he came and went to keep her fed. The berries, and nuts he brought to her seemed to taste better coming from him than they had ever tasted as she gathered them for herself. Twenty five days later they heard the first little peep coming from their three eggs. Mother and Father watched with pure exaltation as the first egg began to crack and the tiny beak of their first chick peaked out. They cooed as the rest of their babies broke free from the confines they had been in, greeting the world. For that moment, it didn’t matter that the Edge was so close and getting closer in the name of progress. All that matter was that they were together. Everything else they would figure out later.