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Short hops, little flutters. Head swivels, always cautious. A reassuring trill lets her know he’s nearby. She puffs up her red breast and chirps back – keep looking. She flits across the sun baked ground tossing twigs and leaves aside. Her eyes wide, checking surroundings. Strong wings carry her from light to dark beneath a tree.
A twig, longer than her and with a gentle curve, nestled within a bed of dried leaves and relinquished seeds. She hops around it, assessing – a good length, and when she takes it in her beak a generous flexibility reveals itself. She tugs once to uncover it, then again–
A deafening roar from above. Instinct sends her upwards, into the branches. The screams crackle across the sky, growing louder and louder. She cowers, scanning the canopy.
A breeze parts the leaves and she sees them. A flock of giants flying in formation. Red bodies and red wings. Each with a single burning eye, searching for prey. Their fiery breath leaves trails of coloured smoke behind, like claw marks carved in the sky. They bank right in unison–
She loses sight.
Unseen.
Don’t move.
Their screams fade. Silence returns, along with a familiar song on the wind that says:
“I’m here.”
She puffs up her red breast and sings in answer:
“I’m here too.”
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