Chapter 2
I could not believe that Master Noah would not wait for my beloved! They say that he has sent out the dove.
I know that it's been two days without a sign, but we had all been waiting for more than eighty days! What is two days more?
I refused to think that he had such little faith in my kind, but I had to find out if the rumors were true.
It was not difficult to search the Ark for the master, even through the complicated maze of temporary homes for the thousands of beasts and birds, none of which had the courage to look me in the eye as I passed them.
I found the Master Noah staring out the window into the great blue nothingness of what was once the fertile earth. He looked me in the eye as none of the other creatures did as I perched on his shoulder.
"Forgive me, my friend," he said to me. He seemed so very tired, and it rang in his voice. "I am worried about him, too. But I must also think about all of the rest."
Then in the periphery of my acute vision I saw a flash of white coming toward us, wavering and staggering in the air. It was the dove coming back to the Ark.
So it was true, then. Master Noah sent the white one without waiting for my beloved to return. The betrayal wounded me deeply. I wanted to lash out at this faithless old man.
But as the dove drew nearer, I saw that something was not right. His flight was erratic and faltering, but not because of fatigue from a long, ceaseless flight. His feathers were ruffled and tangled; some of it tattered to shreds.
It had been in a fight. And out there in that vast nothingness, who or what could he possibly fight with other than-
But I waited. I wanted to look into his eyes and find my answer there. As he drew abreast, Master Noah caught the dove in his hands and lovingly stroked his shambled feathers, cooing to him like he was a precious gift. His feet and some of his feathers were wet, as if he had nearly fallen into the ocean once or twice. The master dried the water off with the hem of his robe.
"You came back," the aged voice revealed both joy and regret. "Then there is no place yet for us."
The white one cooed its inept answer. I, however, was not so easily fooled.
"He is still out there, is he not?" I demanded of the dove. "You fought with him so you could get all the credit, did you not, you traitor!"
He only stared back at me with cautiously blank eyes. He was hiding something- something culpable. I had to go and find out what before it was too late.
But Master Noah had already started closing the window as I had charged the dove with his treachery, and there was no way out of the great Ark.
The white one cooed condescendingly as it sat perched on the old man's hand.
And I flew. Slipping through the narrow space remaining of the closing window I flew. Out of that great shelter, to find my true home. For he is the only home I know.
To be continued--
I could not believe that Master Noah would not wait for my beloved! They say that he has sent out the dove.
I know that it's been two days without a sign, but we had all been waiting for more than eighty days! What is two days more?
I refused to think that he had such little faith in my kind, but I had to find out if the rumors were true.
It was not difficult to search the Ark for the master, even through the complicated maze of temporary homes for the thousands of beasts and birds, none of which had the courage to look me in the eye as I passed them.
I found the Master Noah staring out the window into the great blue nothingness of what was once the fertile earth. He looked me in the eye as none of the other creatures did as I perched on his shoulder.
"Forgive me, my friend," he said to me. He seemed so very tired, and it rang in his voice. "I am worried about him, too. But I must also think about all of the rest."
Then in the periphery of my acute vision I saw a flash of white coming toward us, wavering and staggering in the air. It was the dove coming back to the Ark.
So it was true, then. Master Noah sent the white one without waiting for my beloved to return. The betrayal wounded me deeply. I wanted to lash out at this faithless old man.
But as the dove drew nearer, I saw that something was not right. His flight was erratic and faltering, but not because of fatigue from a long, ceaseless flight. His feathers were ruffled and tangled; some of it tattered to shreds.
It had been in a fight. And out there in that vast nothingness, who or what could he possibly fight with other than-
But I waited. I wanted to look into his eyes and find my answer there. As he drew abreast, Master Noah caught the dove in his hands and lovingly stroked his shambled feathers, cooing to him like he was a precious gift. His feet and some of his feathers were wet, as if he had nearly fallen into the ocean once or twice. The master dried the water off with the hem of his robe.
"You came back," the aged voice revealed both joy and regret. "Then there is no place yet for us."
The white one cooed its inept answer. I, however, was not so easily fooled.
"He is still out there, is he not?" I demanded of the dove. "You fought with him so you could get all the credit, did you not, you traitor!"
He only stared back at me with cautiously blank eyes. He was hiding something- something culpable. I had to go and find out what before it was too late.
But Master Noah had already started closing the window as I had charged the dove with his treachery, and there was no way out of the great Ark.
The white one cooed condescendingly as it sat perched on the old man's hand.
And I flew. Slipping through the narrow space remaining of the closing window I flew. Out of that great shelter, to find my true home. For he is the only home I know.
To be continued--