The Feather's Touch

The green and brown of the trees blurred past me as I chased the reddish blue blur through the forests that were close to my home. I had seen the bird while I was exploring, they were a rarity now, and I wanted to see where it went.

I struggled to follow it as it darted around the trees and foliage, and it struck me that this bird could easily lose me in the forest, choosing to fly higher or faster, but it stayed, leading me somewhere. I wondered what it could want me to see, what experience this glorious feathered friend had in store for me.

It was so rare to see a Scarlet Macaw now, there were many people I knew who had only seen them in pictures. I cursed myself for not having my camera. But I followed, obediently, as the bird led me on through the forest.

I could hear the sounds of nature around me, no other animals seemed to get very close though. Perhaps the noise I made as I darted through the undergrowth was startling to most, and perhaps the risk was not worth the curiosity to the rest of them.

I had ran so far and so fast that I thought I was going to pass out when I eventually reached a clearing in the trees, and the bird shot up and circled around a lake in the centre of it. It was crystal clear, and was teeming with wildlife. I sat by the edge and watched, in awe, at the small ecosystem that I had been presented with.

It was then, sat at the edge of the lake, that I noticed a feather from the macaw had shed, and fluttered down before my eyes. I tried to reach out and catch it, but I missed. I lost my balance and tumbled forward and, right before I hit the lake, the feather touched the water and it changed.

What was clear, fresh water became a thick, bubbling gold substance, and I fell right into it...

And then I was thrown back out of it!

I stood and checked myself over. I wasn't wet, not even slightly damp, like I hadn't fell into liquid at all, when I turned back, the gold substance was still there, bubbling slowly, but when I looked around I was no longer in the forest that was familiar to me. Instead I was stood before a large castle, I had emerged from the water feature in the courtyard.

As I stood there, somewhat bewildered, a man approached me, looked me up and down and mused to himself.

"How old are you, child?" He asked me, gazing down at me through thick, square lenses in seemingly quite old spectacles.

"I'm 14." I told him, too shocked to ask who he was or where I was.

"Hmmm... Too young. Far too young." He muttered to himself. "Clearly you aren't ready yet. Lord knows why she led you here now." He tutted, seemingly to himself before stepping past me towards the liquid. "Well, off you go. Go back through, get yourself home child."

I was about to ask what was going on when he took my hand and essentially pulled me into the golden fountain.

"See you in a few years!" I heard him call as I was spat back out into the forest where I had come from.

Something was different though. When I had run through the forest the sun had barely risen, it was early morning. Now I could see the familiar orange glow of a sunset. How long had I been at that castle?

I suddenly realised with the late hour that my parents would be worried, and I set off to run back home. I never did see that macaw again, but maybe, just maybe, I'll see it again when I'm old enough for whatever that old man wanted me for.