"You sure you're alright?" inquired Judy.

Her grandfather Albert Hopps, who was walking alongside her and the red fox that joined her for the walk, nodded his head as he trekked along the path. He might have been old and had a wrinkly complexion, but his mobility showed no signs of deteriorating despite his age. All of the farm work he had done since he was a young buck contributed to how strong and mobile he still was.

"I'm quite okay, Judith," he said to her with certainty. He knew she had a tendency to be concerned about those around her, but there was honesty no need to do so.

"So where exactly are the three of us heading?" Nick asked as they walked along. "I'm not exactly the biggest fan of surprises."

"There's no need to worry about surprises, Slick," Judy said to her fox in reply. "It'll be a pleasant surprise, if anything. Grandpa said that where he wanted to show us would be absolutely worth the trek."

"That's for sure," Albert chimed in with a nod of his head.

The three walked across the light-colored dirt, making a left turn when they approached a small tree with leaves that were changing their colors for the season. After making this change in the direction they were traveling, what Albert wished for her granddaughter and the fox to see was not too far away. Judy and Nick were both glad to finally reach the spot Grandpa Hopps had been talking about. The temperatures in this area, after all, weren't exactly what they would call the most ideal for doing any sort of hiking.

Before the fox and rabbit was another one of the natural spectacles to be seen during a trip to the Burrows. The trees were now separated further away from one another and created a sort of entryway to this spot on the trail, where they could look and see the freshwater in the distance. A long white bench, rusting in a few places presumably from age, was conveniently there for them to sit on.

Albert slowly sat down on the bench with a relieved sigh, gesturing for Judy and Nick to sit with him as well. The two made their way over to him and sat directly across from him, gazing out at the view that was laying out before them.

"Such a beautiful view, isn't it?" Albert asked.

Judy, in agreement, replied, "Absolutely."

Her grandfather crossed his arms and looked over at her and the fox. "When I was about your age, Judith," he said, "I used to love coming up to this spot. The bench was never here back in those days, so I would just take a seat by that tree over there and reflect."

"Reflect?" inquired the doe sitting beside him.

Albert nodded his head. "Yep. Reflected on quite a couple things here, to be honest. Matter of fact, this was where my brother actually taught me a very important lesson."

"What was that?" Judy said, wishing to know about it.

"My brother Aaron was wiser than his years, and I remember that he told me something here before he was inducted into the military during wartime," he explained. "One day when we walked over to this spot, I told him that I was scared because I knew that he might be in combat with other soldiers. The sky, I remember, was looking pretty dark like a storm was startin' to brew that afternoon. And as we were looking out at how the sky was becoming so gloomy, he pointed up to this large bird that was just soaring in the air."

"What kind of bird was it?" Nick chimed in as he listened to the old buck's words.

"If my memory rings true, I believe it was some kind of eagle," answered Albert. "And while all of the other birds we'd normally hear tweetin' their beaks off were flying to shelter, that sole bird was just soaring around in the sky. It kinda caught my attention because it didn't seem to be concerned about the storm coming this way. So my brother told me something he learned about eagles, that they were the only birds that loved the storm. They don't try to escape it, and instead use the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that all of the other birds were dreading. Turns out what he was teaching me then was much deeper."

"And that was that it's possible to rise above what is scary and soar like that eagle," Judy said.

"That's right," replied her grandfather. "Though the war back then was very scary time with a lot of tension, he was the bravest buck I knew through thick and thin." He sighed heavily, looking back out at the view in front of him. "Every year around this time, I come up to this spot in honor of his service, to remember and honor the sacrifice he and other soldiers made to protect our freedoms. Since you and Nick were in town, I thought I would bring you up here as well."

Judy looked over at Albert and nodded. "Thank you."

The three then looked out at the serene scenic views of the peaceful afternoon, taking notice of an eagle that they now saw soaring majestically through the sunny skies.