Dangers from above and below

After our first day on the coracle which we spent eating, this morning, on our second day, we had to make a plan. There were dangers above and dangers below. I gathered everyone around me and asked Cawlin to speak of the dangers of the Danube.

"What Dangers?" Penelope asked.

"I split them in four categories: 1) dangers from above, 2) dangers from below, 3) dangers that come from behind, and 4) dangers that lie ahead." said Cawlin a little patronizingly.

"Workpackage! Workpackage! You sound just like Petre's friends. Can you expand please?" says Codrin

Well, in category 1 we have predators, e.g., eagles and owls even bigger than Athena that have been known to even eat towny owls, while in category 2 we have huge fish that grow to be large enough to eat birds, e.g., the catfish, and the sturgeon. The lattest is endangered because he is hunted for his eggs, which people eat as caviar, a very expensive fancy food. I can't imagine a higher level of depravity than to eat eggs, even the eggs of a fish. It kills millions of fish, and the sturgeon takes 20 years or so to breed.

I: In the Bega I used to eat catfish, but now the tables have turned. The plan is to constantly watch for these monsters. They grow large enough to eat whole birds. People fish for them with baby ducklings. Some are even older than Mother Cleverbrain. I heard there is a catfish around here that is one hundred years old. Every bird has heard of him and all humans of the area know him and try to outwit him! Imagine that!

Narcisa: All we can do is protect ourselves. We must send out search parties. Cawlin flies ahead, Codrin flies behind us, and Narcissus and I dive, always having each other's back.

Cawlin: In category 3 you have ships and barges that could smash us. We might not even see them at night.

Athena: That's why I to perch on the boat and keep watch. I've given up plenty of tasty rats last night.

Narcissus: Thank you, Athena. I leave fish out for you every evening so that you would not have to do much hunting.

Cawlin: Even during daytime they might not stop for a floating island, not all, which is why we try to float close to the shore. Big boats need deep water, while we do not. And in catergoy 4 we have things that lie ahead and don't move like bridges and hydrocentrals. Each posses its own challenge, which we must work together to solve.

The STARLINGuist

I am a member of the Sturnidae

Well known for their mimicry

My master, a marine biologist

has turned me into a STARLINGuist

This man, Petre Ionescu

A baby bird he did rescue

That bird was me

and now you see

I grew up to be big and strong

I can speak in prose and song

You know he saved me now

It's time to tell you just how

On a ship through the Bosphorus

that was heading for Cyprus

In Turkey where the ship had to dock

As weather was good Petre went for a walk

As he was walking on the ground he spied

A baby starling, ignored, I would have died

He named me Codrin

Hid me in his cabin

he kept me warm, he fed me well

that he'd found me half dead, you couldn't tell

it started of when I'd imitate the telephone ring

He noticed my talent and taught me to sing

But sadly Petre would be going on trips

and I was not welcomed on most ships

He was forced to give me to a friend

Then my carefree days came to an end

This friend lived close to Sanovita

Shut me in a cage, fed me fruit and pita

Better said, small scraps of his food,

They were very cheap, but not very good.

My natural diet is fruit, nectar and seeds

Which can be easily found among the reeds

But Mircea was too lazy to pick something like that

Instead he'd go to the bar and complain he lost his hat

Till everybody in the villiage had heard

That last year, his hat had diaspperared

It did feel a little flat

To put up with such a prat

People forget I have my own role in creation

I eat nectar, which is good for polination

I bring the joy of Christmas when I disperse miseltoe seeds

I bring them to cities from their home among reeds.

Towards the Delta

The Danube shone in the early morning sun. I hop in the river to get breakfast. As I hit the water, droplets spray in the air catching the sun. Then they fall on me, sliding on my waterproof feathers. I dive through the clear water. The faint shine of the sun on the scales of the fish tells me where to find my food. After a good meal I return to the coracle.

Narcisa asks "are there any dams in the way?". I check with Cawlin. He and Codrin fly ahead and chat with birds along the way. "There are two big ones that are unpassable if the gate does not open. Most fish cannot get beyond it, but we must make a plan to pass. We will reach it tomorrow evening." he says.

Codrin: "we'll bring the coracle to the gate. Then I'll tell the person inside to open the gate."

Cawlin: "There is a tiny room inside. A human is there at times, but the wall feels the big ships. If nobody is there, we would need to trigger it somehow or be behind a big ship."

Penelope: Would that be safe?

Cawlin: No, not really. But it might be better than being ahead a big ship. Then our coracle would be smashed.

Philip: Why do humans have these monsters in the first place?

Cawlin: They call them hydrocentrals. They take energy from the water. Energy makes things shine or move. Our boat uses the energy of the water to move, too. We use energy to make things do what they are made to do. Humans control it better. They can use it for light or to make things move on land the way they want to.

Narcisa: I've had a nightmare. I dreamed our coracle was being pulled into a giant propeller and that we were going with it. It made me think of dams and of big ships. I hope it won't turn true.

Floating down the Danube

"Cawlin is a good builder even though he is male" Narcisa commented. The prickly plants were placed over a frame of bendy willow branches on which Cawlin had stuck some grass to fill it. Most of the stems were in the water or had roots thickly coated with mud to keep them from wilting. The coracle now smelled of dead mice. There was a bunch on the floor, some in the back, and some next to Athena, who was sleeping peacefully between them.

I waddled up to Cawlin who was rightfully bragging while looking at the results of his work and said "Let's go find some grain or corn to eat. We don't want to be hungry when we leave."

We flew towards the fields. The droplets of dew were shining in the sun, and made it seem like pieces of stars have falled down. Cawlin points out to some grapes near a cornfield. They look ripe. We land on the grass below the vine and start the feast. I certainly appreciate diversity when it comes to my meals. Cawlin then ate some corn from the edges of the field, where fewer chemicals landed on the plants. Penelope, Codrin and Philip found some wheat and some sunflower seeds, which we all tasted. After this quick breakfast we took wing, and flew back to our coracle.

Penelope and Philip got in through the back, while Narcisa and I slowly pushed the coracle away from land. It was hard to move it at first. Cawlin and Codrin put a long stick under it and helped in pushing it. Eventually, it moved and soon we reached a stronger current. Narcisa and I continued to swim behind it, and catch fish. When the evening came, Athena flew to the top of the coracle and started hooting. "Do you want to try some fish. I've left some out for you" I asked.

Cawlin: I've seen owls in India that eat fish.

Athena: OK, I will try some fishy mice. I have enough supplies to not need to leave the coracle tonight.

Viable means of transport

Three days later we reached the place where Sandor Baci had his barge. It was evening. Everyone had arrived safely. Some reached a day or so before. Group 1 had been the slowest as expected, but we all made it. Sandor looked as old as time itself like Cawlin had described him. He was dressed in partical, non-descript clothes that seemed to be about two centuries old. A friend who looked like he could be his twin in outward appeareance came by. Their faces were different. It was the practical centuries old attire that made them look so similar.

Cawlin later translated their conversation as:

Sandor Baci: I had an old corracle that my father used to fish with before me. I had left it anchored a little higher up. It dissappeared a week or so ago during that storm.

Julo Baci: It must be at the bottom of the Tisa or it might have reached the bottom of the Danube by now. You've got many years of use out of it. Think of its sinking as a gain. You don't have to take it apart. Nature will do it for you.

Sandor Baci: I'd like to think it's used by somebody else somewhere even if I never find it again. It was made by my father's father and it had lasted all these years. So, somehow, I don't think it's a the bottom of the river. My children would never fish on it, though. Why are you so pesimistic today? Did you lose at cards? or was the wine sour?

Julo Baci: No, no, my grandson is visiting this week. He's lost his phone on his way here, and he's been going from tantrum to tantrum. He keeps me and my missus on our toes. Nothing is right for him. I've just gotten away.

Sandor Baci: I've always said those phones are the eye of the devil. Never got one myself. People ask me "how do you live? how does anyone find you?" and I tell them I'm always by the Tisa, and when I am not here I am home or at the store. So, folks know where to find me, and I've got my responsibilities here. I can't get distracted and push my stick in the wrong way. What if everyone sinks? Tisa is the only mirror I need. It's big enough. Then they go off, but they don't really hear me. They are always staring at their phone and not looking left or right. It's like they lost part of their soul. They don't see the beauty of the Tisa. It's the biggest mirror of all.

Julo Baci: Well, there is the Danube over there. Tell me how is your missus...

Then the conversation drifted off to other topics. Cawlin heard the word coracle. He knew we need it to find it. Flying separately was OK along the Bega, but the Danube is large. There are more predators of all sorts. It would be much better to stick together, and to keep each other safe.

Back on land, we decided to search for Sandor Baci's corracle. We have better eyesight than Sandor Baci, the barge man, and we could use the corracle for fishing and transportation. It could be a nice, safe place to return to after eating too much fish. It was harder than it looked. Both the Tisa and Danube are large rivers with thick reeds on their banks.

After a long fruitless search we returned to land.

Cawlin: I wish I still had my floating nest. Then I would not need to search for coracles that are centuries old, older than even Mother Cleverbrain. I should have never agreed to throw it away!

Penelope: I thought that subject was closed. It would have been an open submarine, and it probably has reached the bottom of the Bega by now. I am glad I am not in it.

The Danube was deeper than I ever imagined a river could be. It had so many fish. The Danube ducks had more dangers, but also more oportunities. There is more trash because each river that spilled into the Danube brought its trash with it, but because the Danube is bigger it is not as visible as in the Bega. Narcisa and I had a good meal made of fat fish and then we went to find desert. There were more weeds closer to the back, and some black berries that I thought could be ripe on the bank. Then I saw a dark wooden shape between the reeds. It was Sandor's coracle. It comouflaged amazingly well because of its beaten up color. It was full of sticks and mud. This was good because we did not want to be seen easily. I called the others. We all agreed it was better than any floating nest. Now the challenge of driving it remained. We also did not want to be spotted or caught.

We added grass, nettles and other prickly plants that we could get our beaks on. Most humans would not deem to touch them. Cawlin mended them together so that they looked like a sort of room like my island did before Edwina. Now the coracle looked like one of the floating islands of the Danube Delta. Athena suddenly swoops down to say goodnight before she goes out to hunt. It scares me every time, but she still enjoys it. It's the predator in her that makes her act the hunter even when there is nobody she wants to hunt.

Athena: Why are you in a floating island? I've heard that birds can live on floating islands before, but they are usually bigger.

Narcisa: It's our coracle. It's camoufladged to trick humans. We would not want to be sitting ducks for others to hunt.

Athena: Wow! Never heard of one before, but I like it. It looks prickly enough to keep humans at bay.

Me: Tomorrow morning when you go to sleep, perch on the back of the coracle. You can use the bench in there. Then you'll be with us when we float away.

Athena: Yes, I'll add some dead rats and mice tonight so it smells nice and home-like. Ho! Ho!

and she flew off to do her hunting.

Towards the Danube

The sun was shimmering under the horion. Athena had just returned from hunting and swooped down to say good morning. Cawlin, Penelope, Philip and Codrin came down, too. They were still half asleep and Codrin was gliding more than flying and almost landed in the river. I called everybody to prepare for departure.

Me: We will finally leave this morning. However, Codrin has yet to recover most of his flying ability. That is why I think we should organize travelling groups. Group 1 is Codrin, Narcisa and myself. Group 2 will be Penelope, Philip and Cawlin, and Athena will follow her instincts and travel at night. She is the only member of Group 3.

Codrin: Workpackages! Workpackages! Workpackages!

"What? ... What are those?" Athena quickly asked.

Codrin: Petre taught me how to say "workpackage". It amused the humans he was hanging out with to no end. Then he had to give me up, and asked a colleague, Mircea, who was quitting the field to look after me. So, we moved to the village of the stinking sun, where Mircea has tried his hand at farming.

Cawlin: They must be scientists! I heard Mother talk about such creatures. In the past they were humans with extra foresight like Narcissus. They understood the world and strived to share their understanding with less visionary mortals. Today they pretent to understand, and they split the things they don't understand into smaller things that they still don't understand. These are called workpackages.

Penelope: Hmm... you lost me in that discussion. I had such hope that the destruction of the world could be stopped by people such as Petre. Instead they create confusion that helps in hiding the truth. They confuse each other with workpakages and other fancy words.

Philip: When we have something to say, we simplify it and perfect it into songs or calls. Some of our songs are so beautiful that they are played around the world, and appreciated accross species. I can't imagine adding clutter to our messages.

Codrin: Petre is amazing! He manages to work hard while staying sane and notices the world around him. That's how he saved me. I would be dead if he had not cared for me. Even Mircea was better than most humans. Somehow that did not help. It should have, but it did not. I tried to do everything I could to help him. He was unhappy, and then he lost his job, moved to Ghizela and started drinking. As lazy as he was I do miss him, and I am sure he misses all the wine and beer he got for my talent.

Philip: you want to go back to that cage? are you mad?

Codrin: I would be going back to something I am used to even though it would be bad for me. I will not go back. The further we are, the better and the freer I will feel.

Me: Let leave now! We'll meet again where the Tisa meets the Danube!

Athena: How do we find each other? I can hoot, but the rest of you don't have my noise making capability.

Cawlin: We'll meet by the old man with the barge. He ferries cars across the river by pushing the barge with a very long stick. You can't miss him. I heard he is still on duty every day. I came that way before.

We started to fly. I, Narcisa and Codrin flew for a bit, then floated, then flew and so on. The rest flew with occasional breaks for snacks. Soon we came close to a huge city. There are no water birds and very few sparrows around - just plenty of pigeons and humans in numbers beyond imagination. The banks of the river are destroyed by concrete. Humans call this clean. They are not clean. They are dead, smelly and full of plastic trash. We fly as much as we can to avoid detection. The tall, ungainly bipeds are mostly stuck to their screens, but we are still careful. Cities are depressing: no decent food, too much concrete, and way too hot, smelly, and full of humans who are my inferiors in both intelligence and health. I strive to eat healthy: I am a fish eating vegetarian.

By the end of the first day we had left Timisoara behind, and were safe into the reeds again. By now Codrin looked like he was falling forwards. We stopped for the night. Narcisa and I decided to sleep on the water. It seemes safer and Codrin will sleep on me.

Codrin: That hellish place we passed through was Timisoara. It used to be called the little Wien. Petre used to talk about it with nostalgia when we were far away. I wonder if it was better in those days.

Me: Well... I am glad to be out of there. Now sleep and stop moving on my back!

Narcisa: I miss the others already. But soon enough we'll be at the Danube. Good night!