Sharvari-Final story.

Earlier this month, Skywinds126 was abandoned in an old hangar at a far end of the airport. Up in the sky, a flock of wild sparrows were migrating to the south. One of them, Charlie, was lagging behind due to slow pace. She was mocked by the other birds and was left behind. She noticed a plane flying above them at a speed that couldn’t be matched by any of them. This gave her an idea and she followed the gas clouds formed by the plane and landed at a nearby airport.

Skywind126 noticed planes taking off from the runway; some hovered around the airport searching for a signal. He let a sigh out, “I wish I could be there. I will be spending the rest of my life lying here instead of flying high around the world.” Charlie was flying past all the hangars and stationed airplanes when she overheard his cry. She peeped in the hangar and perched on a high post. The plane was day dreaming about his last flight, experiencing the height, speed and the crash all in his head. As the dream took a bad ending he opened his eyes suddenly to find himself alone in the hangar. He noticed a single feather slip from the top of his head and fall on the ground. Charlie flew over the plane and landed on top of the left wing.

Startled with the new weight on his wings, Skywinds126 shouts, “whose there?”

“Hi, I’m Charlie”, she leaned forward from the wing so he could see her.

“Go away.” Said Skywinds126 as he squirmed away from her.

“I was on my way to the south highlands on my migratory path. I overheard your cry so I came to see.”

Skywinds126 slumps his wings down and reconsiders his state. He let the unwelcomed visitor speak.

“So why don’t you get out of here and move on.”

“I can’t. I don’t have a destination to go to. I’ve never flown out of free will.”

“Why not, you are lying here without being of any use. It seems to me that you are on your own now.”

“It’s not that easy”. He felt uneasy with the bird’s presence on his wing.

She flew in front of him with all excitement, “why not, why don’t you come with me?”

“What”, Skywinds126 stops a chuckle. “I’m not flying with you. Its one of the reasons I’m stuck here in the first place.

Charlie rolled her eyes, “yeah well, I won’t fly with you, I will sit inside”.

With that she went outside and returned with some twigs in her mouth. She went under and started stuffing under the front wheel flap.

“This won’t work you know. It’s too dangerous.”

“Why not, it’s as good as you flying alone. I’ll give you the direction as I will see the land passing by below us.

“So what is this place like?” asked the plane.

{Parallel interpretations by both characters of the place}

“It has all the things you’d need for fueling up as you fly high amongst the clouds that lie between two mountains. Deep below the valley, there is a river flowing between wide banks. You can lie there with your wings spread wide and let the sun shine on it.”

Then there was silence, the wait took place for the secret departure.

The next day the sun rose and let the first ray hit on the windshield of the abandoned aircraft. Skywinds126 woke up and called out to Charlie. Charlie had a plan to let him out without being noticed.

“You start going to the runway while I try to distract the humans.” Saying that she flies out and lands in the middle of the many aircrafts getting ready to take off. Meanwhile Skywinds126 moves out of the hangar. This was his first attempt of setting his wheels outside the hangar since his disposal. His expressions narrated the rest of his feelings. Charlie fluttered her wings and stood midair in front of a plane. Suddenly there was an out roar, “THERE’S BIRD HOVERING ON THE GROUND, EMERGENCY”.

The plan was a success. She flew towards the runway and followed Skywinds126. He was ready to take off. As soon as she sat in the nest, there were jerks. With few more jerks the front wheel lifted off the runway. Charlie held on to the nest and the wheel post.

“Are you sure we are doing the right thing? There is no one to take control over my steering. “Worried Skywinds126.

“You are your own pilot now.”

After reaching a certain height the silhouette of the plane resembled a small bird flying in the sky. They flew over varied landscapes. At one point they also crossed the flock that abandoned Charlie. They looked on.

As the destination came closer, Charlie guided him towards the mountains and told him to follow the river. Meanwhile Skywinds126 searched for the landscape that he imagined. He noticed other aerial creatures flying low over the river forming reflections, perched on the trees, sun drying on the river bank. He didn’t see any aircrafts gliding, choppers stationed, jets soaring high around. He felt alone for the first time since the journey.

“Now is the time to land. There is enough space for your wings to spread out.” Charlie was eager to hop off the nest and wait for her flock. She leaned out of the nest to see the flock of birds pass by. Just then Skywinds126 hit on his breaks but it just put him off balance. Due to that Charlie slipped out of the nest, fluttered her wings to stay in air. She tried calling out to skywinds126 but his speed sucked out her scream that followed next. Skywinds126 looked behind and saw her holding on to his right engine. The pressure was pulling her within and her energy was draining out. He had to do something quick in order to stop a major accident from repeating itself. He feared for his own life and for the bird that put him in this situation in the first place. He switched off the right engine and tilt to the right. He was losing height. He called out to the bird, “Quick try flying back to the nest.” There was no response from her. “We don’t have much time.” He cried. With the weak flaps of her wings she went towards the front wheel while the plane managed a steady position. Both their eyes showed fear and struggle at the same time. Once the bird sat safely in her nest, the plane started his right engine again and prepared for a safe landing.

But there was no such thing as safe landing without a pilot, without a runway, without clear signals…He dived straight into wide spread green foliage. The dense trees provided cushioning but the jerks and the branches tore his left wing. The pain ended as quickly as it was induced. Charlie held still in her place due to the shock. He found some space as he reached the ground and landed with a thud.

His eyes adjusted to the dust storm that he created due to the crash. He saw some faint outline of some familiar forms. And the dust settled he saw few choppers, a jet and other aircrafts of different ranks scattered around. Each had some sign of destruction. Was he hallucinating, he asked himself. Did he crash into another hangar? They all looked at the new addition. It was a welcoming stare. Charlie flew out, still droopy with the fall but managed to perch on a nearby tree. Skywinds126 looked around; saw trees on one end, a river taking a curve on the other end. He saw the aircrafts lying on the ground and some hovering around him from above. He looked at Charlie and said,” I’m not alone here.” Charlie smiled and flew back to meet her flock. {end frame shows an aerial view of the two ‘migratory lands’.}