birds

I was standing in a natural pool of blue-green water – a lagoon. The water was very calm and although it was clean, it was not clear; I could not see through it. B was standing on the shore close by, occupied, with her back to the water. I looked up to see a bird perched on a branch overhanging the water, watching me. It was a vivid green parrot with a red stomach. I said hello. The bird regarded me for a moment before flying down and landing on the water. It floated on the surface of the water, enjoying the swim. It called out and many more birds arrived, circling down and landing on the water. Most of the birds were brilliant green but some were ruby red. We were calm. Suddenly one of the birds decided to duck dive under the water, but once under, the bird panicked and tried to flap its wings. The weight of the water in its wings prevented it from coming back to the surface. A few more of the birds dived under before they realised what was happening, and they too began to drown. The other birds flew into the air and away in fright, perhaps a hundred birds screaming and flying into the sky. Some birds stayed to try to help their mates, diving into the water to retrieve them, but they too became waterlogged. Once the birds were under the water, I couldn’t see where they had gone. I quickly scooped the water with my hands, trying to retrieve birds from the water before it was too late. Sometimes I would find a bird and a couple of them flew away, but a few dived straight back into the water, looking for their mates. I called out to B to help me and she jumped into the water. We were both scooping the water with our hands, fighting time to save as many of the birds as we could. I scooped out one of the ruby-red birds, which remained perched on my hand, looking at me. I could feel her feet clutching my finger. With my left hand I scooped out two more red birds that were already dead. They were wet and heavy in my hand. B and I stopped. We realised that it was too late to save any more birds. It was quiet and I knew that the red bird’s mate was dead. Her eyes were filled with tears.