Gillis Eagle was gliding around, slowly rising and falling in lazy circles. The hot midday air lifted him up, up, up. When the waves of heat became too much, he slid over and drifted through a passing cloud, and the water in the cloud cooled him off.
He was trying to ignore the carnage below. But, he could see they were about to do it again. They'd been wreaking their destruction for weeks now. Over, and over, and over. And every time they did, his friend would come walloping like a wild thing through the woods. And every time, Gillis had caught his friend as he dashed off the edge of the cliff.
Gillis slowly descended while watching for any movement in the underbrush. Then, just like before, it happened again. Thunder roared up from below. The earth shook as the top of another mountain exploded up into the air. Dirt and rocks rained down, down, down, into a bubbling black lake of coal sludge.
And then, there he was, barreling through the woods, wide eyed and warbling like wild. Theloneous T. Turkey, or Theo for short, was out of his mind with fear and headed for the edge of the cliff once again. As Gillis glided toward the part of the cliff where Theo was headed, an unprecedented second thunderous blast rolled Gillis off his course. He quickly recovered just in time to see his friend going over the edge. Gillis sped over and down toward his friend. Theo was flapping and flipping and spinning, around and about and head over heels, completely out of control.
As Gillis closed in, he knew he had to be careful how he grabbed his friend. If he got him by the neck or head, he could easily kill him. A wing would likely maim him. He grabbed, grabbed, grabbed, and finally got a good grip on a meaty thigh.
He dropped his friend off back at the top of the cliff as the echoes of the blast subsided.
"Theo. Are you all right?"
Theo stared wide eyed into space.
"Theo. It's ok. Surely they're done for today. It's ok. You're ok."
"Ok," Theo said quietly. He took a deep breath. "Ok. It's ok. I'm ok."
"Yeah, you're ok."
"What are they doing down there?"
"I don't know. I still don't know. I don't think I'll ever know."
Theo shook his head, and rubbed his thigh.
"You really gouged me that time."
"Sorry. You were really out of control. And the second blast threw me off."
"I could have made it. I can fly you know."
"Sure. I know you can fly," Gillis said, remembering the first time he saw his friend fly up to a low branch.
Theo had gotten a good running start, and flapped his wings like crazy, and even then he had barely gotten himself up high enough. Even if he had been controlled going off the cliff, there was no way he could have survived the long drop off the mountain side.
"I know you can fly my friend."
"Yeah. But thanks. That might have been a little too much for me."
"On the plus side, don't you like soaring with the eagles?" Gillis said with a smile.
Theo smiled back. "I was watching you, you know."
Gillis said, "Watching me? When?"
"Just before the blast. You truly are magnificent in the air. I can see why they picked you as their national symbol."
Gillis looked out over the rows of beheaded mountains, "I'm not sure I want to be their symbol."
Both sat silently for awhile.
"You know," Gillis said, "one of their wise men of old proposed that you be their national symbol."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I wonder if that wouldn't have been better."
Theo smiled again, "Well, they couldn't eat us then. Not if we were their national symbol."
Theo's smile widened.
"Maybe," replied Gillis. "Or maybe, if their symbol was something they ate, something that gave them life, maybe that would make it more important to them. Maybe they would have to respect you and where you live more."
"Oh," Theo said sternly. "Yeah, that would be good too."
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Fun Fact: Benjamin Franklin proposed that the turkey be the national symbol.
Not-So-Fun Fact: Over a million acres, or 500 mountains, have been flattened by mountaintop removal coal mining. Most of the mountains had names.
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