Sophia sat, frightened, in her nest. Her older brother, Jespa, was staring into space, but occasionally, he would stop to talk to the air. Jespa was odd; their mother insisted to their curious - and concerned - neighbours that he was talking to an 'imaginary friend', but there was never happiness in his expression when he talked. If anything, he looked frightened, confused, and sometimes angry.
Sophia's friends, Isabella and Manuela, didn't talk about Jespa to her face, but she had overheard them talking about him. Her other friend, Jewel, tried to get some information out of her, but Sophia knew her brother wouldn't appreciate her talking about him behind his back. That was the case with everyone - Jespa was the talk of the tribe. They whispered about him hearing voices and seeing things that weren't really there, even though Zenaida furiously insisted that he was perfectly normal. She looked to Andre for backup, but even he was starting to have doubts about Jespa's mental health.
Sophia wasn't sure how long Zenaida and Andre had been arguing outside. Her parents did not have a secure relationship - it seemed as though Andre was more devoted to Zenaida than she was to him. Sophia always felt dismayed, seeing her mother flutter her eyelashes and shake her tail feathers at single males - she had a mate, and she was old enough to see that flirting when you were already coupled was wrong. Maybe that was what they were arguing about? Had her blissfully unaware father learned of her mother's inappropriate behaviour?
The angry voices of her parents were getting louder and louder. Sophia winced as Zenaida's harsh words reached their ears. She whispered to her brother. "Jespa?" No reply. Sophia looked at him in annoyance. "Jespa!" She prodded him, and Jespa whipped his head round, dislike glistening in his gaze. She wasn't sure why Jespa had never liked her - her two friends, Trix and Catia, were twins, and the best of friends. All her friends who had siblings got along, but for some reason she and Jespa didn't.
"What?" He asked, gruffly.
"Why are mom and dad arguing?" She asked. Jespa rolled his eyes.
"You haven't been around long enough - they always fight."
"But not like this!" She insisted, frustrated that he wasn't taking this seriously. Isabella's parents had split up, for some reason - she didn't want that to happen to Zenaida and Andre. It was a romantic love story, taking place in a period of time known as the 'Great Sorrow', in which the tribes had been at war and barely any happiness was felt. It would be such a shame for it to end. And besides, Isabella had to be swapped between her split parents, who made awkward conversation - she didn't want that to happen to her family.
"Oh, don't over exaggerate -" Jespa began, but then Andre's voice filled the hollow. The two chicks whipped their heads up. Andre was usually calm - there was a mildness about his face, which was friendly, and he went around in a relaxed manner. He looked very approachable and Sophia thought he was the best father ever - he was always spoiling her and Jespa with sweet fruits and always filled their nests with the softest feathers. He told them the best stories and always took them out of the ravine to explore. That was when she and Jespa had the most bonding time - sometimes she even got to play with him, when they were outside with Andre. Sometimes Jespa's abnormality was forgotten. She refocused on Andre, shocked by the angry and devastated look on his face.
"I'm taking the kids with me!" Andre hissed, over his shoulder. "They're better off with me - at least I'm not a liar." Sophia and Jespa stared at the scene, trying to figure out what was going on.
"They're not going anywhere! I'm their mother!" Zenaida stormed in after him, and then the atmosphere went from unpleasant to terrifying, as the two macaws started screaming at each other. Sophia and Jespa cowered in their nests; then Andre blurted something out.
"What, the mother who cheats on their father?" Andre fumed. Sophia and Jespa stared at Andre, then each other - then at Zenaida. She looked mortified.
"Mom?" Jespa asked, in shock. Zenaida swayed slightly.
"No, darling... your father's just a bit confused." Zenaida coughed, before looking pleadingly at her mate. "Andre, I'm sorry! It was all a mistake, and he's ended it! I mean, I ended it..."
"Zenaida, does the past twenty-four years mean nothing to you?" Asked Andre, appalled. "I almost died, saving you during that battle! And now you've thrown it all away for a fling with some silly younger male? How could you do this to me?"
"Are you kidding me? You're boring!" Zenaida squawked. "And you're not taking my kids - they're staying with me!" Andre's dark blue eyes narrowed.
"Let's go, Sophia, Jespa." He headed toward the nest, ignoring Zenaida. She was not having it. To Sophia's terror, Zenaida let out a shriek, and leapt at Andre.
"Mom!" She cried. Andre was as shocked as Sophia and Jespa - it took a few moments for him to fight back. He first retaliated with a swipe, but soon it was a full-blown fight. The two parents had forgotten their witnessing children as they fought in their rage. They spun around the hollow, a whirlwind of feathers and screeches. Andre, while powerful, was so much slower than Zenaida - he kept crying out in pain, for she was clawing at him without hesitation. Jespa leapt out of the nest, trying to stop the inferno, only to be knocked away by a tail. There was then a sickening crack as Zenaida shoved Andre into the wall - his wing was crushed between his body and the tree trunk.
"Zenaida!" He gasped in pain, but she didn't listen. Ignoring his awkward-looking wing, she seized him, dragging him outside. Sophia ran after them, leaving Jespa to pick himself up off the floor. She rushed after her parents, horrified by it all: their fighting, her mother betraying her father, Andre's injured wing. Zenaida swung Andre around, glaring at him. Sophia crept around the two, to avoid getting between them, and cowered at the branch edge behind Andre.
"It's over. Get away from us." Zenaida snarled, but Andre didn't listen.
"They're my children as well as yours!" He said, clutching his wing, which Zenaida hadn't noticed still. Her golden eyes burned with fury.
"Only one of them is!" She shrieked.
To Sophia's shock, she shoved Andre hard in the chest, sending him staggering back - straight toward Sophia and the branch edge. She gasped, and clung onto the branch as Andre's talons snagged under her - then, to her alarm, Andre lost his footing. At this moment, Jespa emerged from the hollow, in time to see Andre stumble over Sophia.
It was then that Zenaida saw Sophia, saw Andre's twisted wing. She screeched in fear. She lunged to grab Andre's wings - but she missed by inches. Andre was then plummeting through the air, screeching in terror as he did, unable to fly with his useless wing.
"Daddy!" Sophia cried, watching him fall. Andre's eyes fixated on his terrified daughter, and the horrified Zenaida and Jespa - but then Sophia saw him no longer, for the ferns swallowed him. His shrieks abruptly cut off and there was a sickening thud. It took a few moments for Sophia to realize why his shrieks had stopped - then she shaken into reality.
Zenaida was screaming like a bird possessed. "What did you do, what did you do?" She screeched, seizing Sophia hard by the shoulders. Sophia blinked at her hysterical mother, and then she remembered how Zenaida had shoved Andre, straight toward her - Andre had tripped over her and gone tumbling back. Then the realization dawned upon her.
She had tripped Andre. Her father had tripped over her, and in doing so fallen with his injured wing. Zenaida let go of her, and disappeared into the ferns below - shrieking Andre's name. "Andre! Andre!" Sophia lurched forward, looking over the branch edge - Jespa ran to the edge too, staring over. Zenaida was wailing and screaming, now. "Andre, oh, my Andre! I'm sorry!" Her wails of grief were loud enough to rouse the tribe - then heads were poking out of the trees. Sleepy minds clarified as they heard the grief and mourning in Zenaida's voice. Suddenly, agony ripped through her wing. Sophia cried out, and whirled around - face to face with her brother.
"You monster!" He declared. His eyes were wild - grief-stricken, shocked, and horrified. They were filled with madness - and suddenly Sophia was terrified of him. "You've killed dad!"
"He's not my brother. Not entirely, anyway. At first I thought she only said that to hurt Andre. Then I realised how much I look like him... and how Jespa looks nothing like... " Sophia's voice trailed off before she started to cry.
Roberto stared at Sophia. She was sobbing, her eyes like a cave from which a waterfall fell - so many tears. She slid off the root, to the floor, where she sat, weeping into her feathers. "I know it sounds unlikely. But it's the truth - maybe dad's death was my fault. If I hadn't tripped him, Jespa wouldn't blame me... he thinks I tripped Andre deliberately."
Roberto could barely believe it. Sophia had accidentally caused Andre to stumble and fall, and Jespa thought it was deliberate? This is why Jespa hates her so much? An accident? "If only I hadn't gotten in the way, things could've been so different."
"I had no idea." He whispered. Sophia continued to weep on the floor, and his heart twisted in pain, at seeing the grief she felt. She felt so guilty, for an accident that hadn't even been her fault. He slid down onto the floor beside her, wrapped a wing over her shoulders. "It was an accident, Sophia. Don't feel so guilty."
"But I was in the way!" She wailed. "If I hadn't -"
"It's not your fault!" He protested. "You said Zenaida injured his wing beyond use, and then she pushed him - you can't blame yourself." Sophia looked up with sorrowful eyes, unconvinced, but he saw the other question within their midnight blue depths. "Of course I believe you." He murmured. Her tears seemed to subdue, and her eyes fluttered closed as she rested her head against his side. "It's going to be okay. I promise."