Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2001 09:23:50 -0700 From: ZaneG7@Excite.com Subject: Snow Falcons-5 The ending The End of this story is dedicated from a Kestrel, to a very special Gyrfalcon and a Peregrine, may your songs and stories be there forever. This work is fictional. None of the characters are based on real people. Please do not read if you are not of legal age or Adult-Youth stories get your Turkey Vulture or any other animal you think of. Comments can be directed to ZaneG7@Excite.com all feedback is appreciated, flames will go up in smoke. Copyright Notice: This story is copyright by the author and the author retains all rights. Expressly prohibited is placing this story at a for pay site. SNOW FALCONS, Part 5 (The Ending) By: Zane Hunter Green "Reed" I whispered "I'm so sorry" He looked at me and smiled, "Please it feels sooo good, I need you, keep going, okay ohhhh" "I love you, you know that!" and then with all my heart I forgot that he was anything else but my soul mate, why in this life we were two males, and he was younger than me I could only briefly think that there must be some divine plan, some reason beyond my own bird brain. I think I fell in love with him because I knew him. He was the better part of me. I loved him so much that I had to show him in all ways, and this was just one more. I could not resist him. "Ah this is good!!" His cries turned into shrieks, Our eyes feed into each other until his closed as the joy of our primal dance overwhelmed him. It was beyond anything earthly feeling I had every known as the pleasure forced me into light, sound, vibration, I knew what it was like to really fly. Only as my white fuel gave out, pumping into his stellar being did I come back to earth...Oh it was so much better than even my words can tell you, but I am only a man. How can I truly describe an instant of perfection? I kissed him after, as I helped him to dress. He looked at me, not with hatred or disgust as I felt he might, but with his warm smile, so beautiful, and he kissed me back. Well I still had work to do, there was a box on the hill that had falcons that were due to be released. Now would good be a good time, but before I did that I had a task to take care of, one of the hardest I would ever have to do. "Reed, love. We are going to need to take the small jumper helicopter into the peaks, where the box is." "What is this box you keep talking about?" He asked as he snuggled against me, and I already wanted more of him. Oh God! This was going to be so hard! I loved him, and I had made the love phsyical. I could never return him now, but I couldn't keep him either, I needed him out of danger, and now there was no return I had passed through his portal. "The box has two baby peregrines inside, that are ready to be released to the wild." Is what I told him, when I wanted to say so much more. Ohh cool and I can help? "We are going to hook the box, and let the tercels fly free. "Tercels? I thought they were falcons." "They are, male falcons are really tercels." "Listen, I need you to wipe down the windshield of the jumper, will you do it for me. I have an important phone call that I have to make first." I instructed him. "Okay captain!" I gave him the cleaning supplies and walked over to the jumper with him. Once again he reached up to embrace me, and we kissed each other a few times until I tore myself away. Away from Reed I called Jake. He knew about the fire, and assured me that no one had been injured. There had been minor damages, but the fire had not hit the hatchery. Then I told him about my real problem. This was not the first time that Jake would help a run-away boy. I knew that there had been other's but I had never delved into his private life. What he told me gave me hope that there was a place where Reed could go where he would be safe. I felt empty when I realized that I would have to part with him in several hours. Jake would arrange for him to be picked up by one of his private pilots, and then the less I knew the better. I would have to return to my former life, and pretend that I had no idea who Reed was. The most important part of me would be someone I could never admit to meeting. The next few hours then would be the most precious of my life, and I had to hide my true feelings from Reed. He must never know of my despair. Knowing him as well as I did, I already figured that he would then refuse to leave me. I had to give him cause to go. We got into the jumper, a small helicopter. He snuggled against me as I let go the throttle. We lifted up to the mountaintop where against the ledge was the box. "This reminds me of Pandora's box." Let's see what's inside?" He said. "Hopefully two strong little Tercels, not fear and disease, and all those other nasty things." "Well there was hope at the end wasn't there." "Yes Reed, there was hope at the end." I glided over the box, and hooked the top. We gave it a lift, and I moved off quickly as not to damage the young male birds. I wanted to fly away as quickly as I could so they could take their own wing without fear of my injuring them. As we flew back down into the valley, I could see the wonder in Reed's eyes. "Why do you need to keep baby falcons in a box?" I started to explain about the dangers of DDT, and the cause of softening of eggs. "It is hard to be a baby bird these days isn't it." "Yes it is hard to grow up if you are what some call a bird of prey." "But they are the most beautiful." "Yes, they are rare and they are beautiful." I parked the jumper, and we got out. I went over to the Goshawk and removed my birdwatching lenses and a camera. I gave the bird glasses to Reed to look through. "I see them Lee, I really do! They're flying. Will they stay together?" "Maybe for a few days, then hopefully they will part and start their own cycle of life, find their own mates." "Oh!" "Or maybe they'll stay together, who knows it is their life now. I just hope that they stay away from hunters." "They sure are beautiful when they fly, then Reed started hopping around. Just a happy carefree boy at play. I had my camera out, and I took so many pictures that afternoon. All too soon the jet landed. I briefly explained to Reed where he was going and why." He looked at me with tears in his eyes but he seemed to know, he knew a lot. That I can tell you. As I watched him go, I thought about the birds waiting at home for me to feed, and my land that I would keep in trust that someday my snow tercel would be flying home to me. I am sorry if I bored you with my story, but I tell it to myself often. I look at the pictures of him, which I must keep hidden. For awhile my land was combed by hunters. I knew what they were looking for, but it was never found. Some news articles appeared that started to question the integrity of one of our local politicians. He ended up going to jail because of graft that he was tied to. The regional shopping mall project was dropped. And I still watch the migrating birds each season. With each one I send a mental message that I love you. I know that he is somewhere calling the birds to him, and someday when he's older one of those birds will be me. The End Thank you for reading this story. Maybe some day I will write about Jake.