Summertime Stories

On a stormy winter’s night, two unlikely stories become one. This tale is not one that ends in tears, but one that certainly begins with them. When storms bring terrible destruction and tragedy. What do those devastated, do from there? Some fall into despair...but for other's, it means having the courage to start again.

Above the roaring ocean…flew a young eager sea hawk. It was his first solo fishing mission, and he was determined to bring home dinner to his parents. They had been teaching him to fly and hunt, but they were still nervous to let him go out on his own. He was their first baby chick after all. Their little baby Arlo. But Arlo insisted and they could not resist his adorable confidence. So, his parents stay in their nest, which was nestled into the cliff front and out fishing went Arlo.

He flew out to sea to find the larger schools of fish that swim in the deeper ocean, like he was taught. The clouds had been getting thicker and darker all day. There was just a gentle breeze in the morning when Arlo left the nest. But the ocean was rough and churning in anticipation for the coming storm. It was difficult for him to see prey, even with his impressive hawk sight.

He couldn’t give up. It was his first big hunt and he wanted to make his parents proud. But he was so determined in his hunt that he didn’t realise how bad the weather had become. Until…a loud CRACK blasted through the clouds. It was lightening. He had always been in the safety of the nest when he’d heard it before. He froze in shock. Arlo felt himself falling. He had stopped flapping his wings. As he fell toward the water, the wind began furiously blowing and it started pouring rain.

It was then, that he realised, he was in the most dangerous storm he had ever seen. He tried to flap his wings, but he was panicking and was not concentrating on what his parents had taught him about flying. When suddenly he feels a thud. He is not falling anymore. He looks up and see’s his mother’s relived smile. He is safely grasped in her talons. She lets out a loud shriek to let his father know that she has found Arlo, so that he would return to the nest to meet them.

By the time they got closer to the shore, there was debris blowing everywhere around them. It was whipping and thrashing past them. One object was coming right at them! Arlo and his Mum gasped in unison, as they prepared for the object to collide with them…

But wait…it’s not debris, it’s Arlo’s Dad. He has flown out to help them. Arlo’s Mum passes him off to his Dad. His wingspan is much longer, so he will be able carry Arlo to safety quicker than her. She flies alongside them. They are so close the nest now. They can see it, even through the savage storm.

Just then. Arlo feels his body being flung towards the nest. “Flap your wings son, don’t stop until you’re safe!” His father yells. A he and his mate are hit with a large branch, blown down from the cliffs. Arlo is so scared. His fear helps him fly the short distance to the nest. Where he collapsed, wet, cold, and shaking. Waiting and hoping for his parents return.

He waited, but they did not come back. The storm suddenly and unexpectedly eased off. Arlo did not want to leave the nest. But it might be his only chance to find his parents, while the storm had calmed. What if they needed his help? The last time he saw them, they were plummeting down. Being pushed by a tree branch. He focused, then launched himself into the air. He glided down the cliff, scanning any foliage that had crashed onto the rocks. That’s when he saw them. His parents. Under the thick of the branch, lifeless.

Arlo couldn’t breathe. They were gone. They had saved him and now they were gone. He then remembered his dad’s last words; “Flap your wings son, don’t stop until you’re safe”. Well, he wasn’t safe here anymore, not all alone. He flapped his wings and channelled all his sadness and fear to fly up the cliff face. When he reached the top, he began to fly inland as fast as he could. He wanted to get far, far away. He wished he could outfly this feeling inside him.

The storm had turned direction. Now the wind was blowing in from the ocean. It started thrashing and blowing once again. Even worse than before. Arlo couldn’t see anything, so he just kept flying. Unbeknown to him, another tragic story was unfolding on the ground below.

The first half of the storm had separated a brumby mare and her foal from their herd. The mare wanted to find safety for her adolescent foal and was encouraging her up the snowy mountain through the scrub. “Hurry Ava, the storm has turned! It’s not far now. Just a little further up the hill”. Ava’s Mum remembered of a little old barn tucked into a small flat cove on the mountain. She knew Ava would not be strong enough to withstand the storm much longer. She was tiring quickly and could not endure temperatures this cold much longer. If she could just get them to that barn, they could rest and wait out the storm.

An exploding light and a loud crack came down all at once. Ava and her mum were thrown to the ground. Before they could find their feet, an enormous crashing sound filled the air. Ava looked up, to see an enormous gum tree crashing to the ground. It was so loud and terrifying...and then it was just dark.

Ava must have blacked out for a moment. When she opened her eyes, she was covered in loose gum leaves. She looked behind her and let out the most devastating heart wrenching “Neigh!”, when she saw her mother under the fallen tree. Ava ran to her mother as quickly as she could. But there was no use, she was gone.

The storm was still raging, and Ava knew that she had to get to the old barn as soon as she could. She ran, she slipped, she tripped. Again and again. She felt devastated and numb and frightened all at once. All she could do about it was get to that old barn.

Finally, she reached the flat of the mountain. There it was, abandoned and falling apart. She galloped to the opening. Then screeched to a holt. There, in the doorway, was a shivering little bird laying in the snow. Barely breathing. It must have collided with the barn in the storm. Ava scoop it onto her nose and took it into the barn with her.

She laid the young bird on the dry straw and pushed some of it gently on top of him, trying to warm him up. He opened his eye’s slightly and looked up at her. “I’m Arlo”, he weakly whispered, before closing his eyes again. Ava felt a small relief that he was okay, forgetting for a moment what she had just been through. She was exhausted and suddenly, was in a world of pain. She looked down to see massive cuts and gashes on her legs. It was all too much. She collapsed onto the straw next to Arlo.

They slept through that night and right through the next night as well. The second morning, Ava opened her eyes to see Arlo pecking around in the straw eating bugs. He turned to see that she was awake. He hopped over to her and pushed some hay towards Ava’s mouth to encourage her to eat. Ava tried to stand up, but she couldn’t. She was too weak, and her legs were in too much pain. “Please eat something, it will make you stronger. I promise”, Arlo said encouragingly. So, Ava ate hay and Arlo ate bugs. Together they slowly grew stronger, as the last weeks of winter, went into the first weeks of spring.

They bonded over their mutual loss and grief, and comforted one another in the shelter of that old barn. As their bond grew stronger, so did their bodies. When the first warm days of spring came around, they were ready to take their first steps out of the barn and begin their lives again. They spent the whole spring on that little flat, having the stability of the barn in reach as they grew stronger.

Arlo had to re-learn how to fly. He was scared to, the last time he flew was that awful night. But Ava encouraged him and would stand under the tree branches ready to catch him if he fell. Ava also had to re-learn how to do things. Like keep her balance, to walk and trot without a limp. They helped each other become courageous again, through that spring. In doing so, they each became brave enough to love again. They became best friends. They became family.

When the first summer sun rose, it was time. It was time for Arlo to soar though the sky again. It was time for Ava to gallop through the open plains. As the wind blew through their feathers and mane, they galloped and soared together. They were each other’s family now. They had bested tragedy, with compassion and bravery. Which in turn, had been rewarded with a second chance of love, friendship and happiness once again.