There was silence in the nest. The sounds of the crickets chirping was the only noise for miles. The stars twinkled and the sky was black. And yet, something amazing was happening.
The sound of cracking eggshells broke the silence. It was a gentle sound but a harsh one at the same time, interrupting the quiet. Slowly, a small, orange beak poked out of the egg. A baby bird was hatching!
The bird finally burst out of its shell in a flurry of sqwaks and tweets. It slowly lifted its curled head away from its chest and looked around, ruffling its wet, oily feathers with dignity. It looked around, at the night sky, at the stars, at the nest he was in. He suddenly remembered he had to have a name. He remembered his first word. Tweet. So that would be his name.
Tweet looked around at the eggs next to him in the nest and wondered if there was anything good to eat inside of them. Boy, was he hungry! He had been poking away at that shell for a whole day, all the while a larger bird watching over him, which he came to understand was his mother. He also knew that the other larger bird beside her had been his father. He hoped that, wherever they were, they were getting food, although he had no idea what he wanted to eat anyways.
All of a sudden, he saw the two eggs in front of him shake and shudder. One cracked open, and then the other did the same. His brother and sister were hatching!
He watched, interested. His sister hatched first. The first thing she did was flap, so her name was now Flap, at least in his mind. Then his brother made the weirdest sound. It went something like "FWAAAAAKKKKKWA!" Tweet didn't know what to make of it, so he just abbreviated it to Fwak and named him that.
Flap and Fwak ruffled their oily feathers and cocked their heads at Tweet.
"Tweet tweet!" he said, which in bird language means, "Hello! My name is Tweet! And you must be...?" (A lot for two tweets, isn't it?!)
Flap and Fwak nodded. "We're Flap and Fwak!" they said excitedly.
Tweet, Flap, and Fwak told eachother about what had happened in their shells. Not much for Fwak and Tweet, but Flap said she had felt her egg falling. It landed on something soft, but she didn't know what it was. Then she felt that she was being carried upward and landed softly again in the nest, although she didn't know who had rescued her. Fwak and Tweet looked at eachother with that look that brothers give eachother, and this time it meant they were glad that they were all together. Tweet was glad that he had a brother and a sister and that was very happy.
All of a sudden, there was an eagle!
A yellow eyed, white headed creature with a curved beak and razor-sharp talons just waiting to strike. Baby birds would be a wonderful, helpless, refreshing treat for a bald eagle!
Where is your mother when you need her? wondered Tweet as he looked around at Flap and Fwak. They were jumping up and down nervously, flapping their wings as if they could fly out of the nest by themselves. But maybe...
Tweet knew what he had to do. He gathered up Flap and Fwak and squeaked them some instructions. They all nodded, trembling.
Tweet took one last look at the nest he had once called home, then opened his wings and flew!
Fwak and Flap quickly followed behind, clumsily at first, but then following Tweet's movements they regained control and were soaring through the air, the wind whistling against their feathers. Tweet had never felt so alive. Not that he had had much of a chance to yet; it was only the first ten minutes of his life. But still...
Over the forest they flew when Tweet remembered his mom and dad. "Guys, we need to find our parents! I got out of my shell and they weren't there. At first I thought they were out hunting food, but how long does it take for them to do that, really?" called Tweet to his brother and sister over the wind.
Tired, his siblings encouraged him to go but decided to stay behind themselves. "That was enough flying for me," said Fwak. Tweet guided them back to the safe nest, hoping they would be alright. Then he flew out into the wind again, letting his feathers ruffle against his little body.
Once Tweet reached the edge of the forest again, instead of soaring over the treetops, he did his first dive, folding his wings against his warm body tightly. He landed on a tree limb something less than gracefully but he did not fall. He straightened his tail feathers and ruffled out his wings to give himself space. As he looked around at his surroundings with his light-accustomed eyes, he spotted a sleeping Horned Owl snoring on the end of his branch. Every couple of seconds his ears twitched. "Hello?" squeaked Tweet, hoping that this owl could help him find his parents.
"Hello," said the owl, eyes still closed. Tweet jumped. "How may I help you? My name is Hoot. I am an owl. As you can see," said the owl. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing big brown globes with smaller black dots in the centers.
"I am looking for my parents. They look just like me. Will you help me find them?" asked Tweet to Hoot.
"I will help you. Don't worry, we will find your parents. Follow me!" said Hoot and flew out into the night with Tweet following close behind.
