I woke up with a start. Sweat was rolling down my face and I was gasping for air. I opened the window, letting a gush of cold early morning Arizona wind sweep inside.
I jumped out, stretching my brown and white wings. As I soared higher, I could already feel myself start to relax. Flying calmed me and it always will.
I didn't see where I was going until I reached a mouth of a huge cave. I should've known this is where my wings will take me. This was the cave where we stayed with the hawks.
As I walked deeper inside, I could hear the flapping of wings. I crouched lower until I found the opening. The sight of the hawks took my breath away. They were graceful and magnificent as ever.
One of them noticed my coming then it swooped down towards me, I unfurled my wings just in time and flew upward. It cawed in surprise and flew back to its flock.
And for a few brief moments I just stood there, mesmerized by the grace that they showed, by the way the moved in unison. It was just so beautiful. I was in that position for a very long time, God knows what I was doing while staring.
I was about to head home when the largest one neared me. I froze, afraid that I might do something that can make it go mad.
This hawk was quite different from the others. Its feathers were darker and looked a little ruffled. The wings were unbelievably large, probably two times of the size of mine. I looked into its eyes and my breath was caught in my throat. Its eyes weren't black but blue; blue as the early morning sky.
"You're different," I murmured as I reached out and tried to touch its beak. To my surprise, it didn't move away or bite my hand off.
Our moment was interrupted when the hawks started swooping down at us. I didn't notice that they were circling above us, probably eyeing every move that I made. I wouldn't blame them. They just want to make sure that one of their members is safe.
It started to ascend and joined the others. I followed it and was later flying with the most majestic winged creatures that I have ever known. They started to tilt their wings and flew vertically. I copied them. I was a bit shaky at first but later on I was flying like a pro.
I finally gave the blue eyed hawk a name. And I named it Blue Eyes. Yeah, I know, it's a stupid name. But don't blame me if I wasn't born without any skill of name giving. Anyway, Blue Eyes kept on teaching me new techniques of flying. It's not as easy as it looks. Trust me.
I squinted as I looked at the sun which was now shining brightly. Come to think of it, I was with the hawks for a pretty long time. How long was I with them? One hour? Two? It didn't matter. No one would bother looking for me.
That's what I thought, until…
"Max!" My head snapped up to see Dylan.