Flying Fish

A Brand New View

That fish, high in the air in the osprey’s claws startled by scenery

About to die, fighting for oxygen in the ocean-less air, fighting the claw-induced pain, when: suddenly: what a sight!

The osprey, spotting the unwary fish venturing too close to the surface from midair, had swooped and seized the little fish and before it really had a chance to realize anything at all (or say Jack Robinson), they were both back in the air, and now rising, rising, the osprey heading back to her nest with more food (squirming in her grasp).

The claws dug deeper and deeper to make sure the fish, now desperate for oxygen, did not wrestle loose. Gills opening and closing futilely and more and more urgently, seeking now nonexistent waters to sustain life. Not a drop at this altitude.

The fish did not really think “This is it” or anything, but on some level, it knew, “This is it.”

Claws dug even deeper while the fish wrestled some more and then, and then looked down:

At the beach, at the sand, at the road running parallel to it, at the field, at the cows, at the forest now approaching, and, and… It couldn’t draw a deep breath or cry out in surprise but it was surprised, beyond measure, by the waterless world down there. The color green a new phenomenon.

The rocks, new phenomena.

The car a new phenomenon.

The warm sun a new phenomenon.

The cows, new phenomena.

The altitude itself, an amazing new phenomenon.

And then Death, a new phenomenon.

© Wolfstuff