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!