A blue dove for the princess

chapter 4

The dove first reached a forest to the north of the castle.

"Looks like you are in such hurry, but your flying is not smooth," said a lark, which had just flown quickly from behind to the dove's side.

"It can't be helped. I've lived in a cage for a long time. I'm proud that I can somehow manage to fly," the dove responded.

"Cages suck," the lark said abruptly. "We've got wings, right? Flying is wonderful. Your wings can take you anywhere you want at any time you want. That's how it is. Look. The world is so big."

The dove asked the lark, "Don't you think the sky is dangerous? There are hawks and falcons up here. What if they come after you? And on the ground, there are foxes, raccoons, dogs, and cats."

"Let me ask you something. Can you eat anything you wanna eat, if you are confined in a cage?" The lark asked. "Even if some days you feel like eating bugs, sometimes you want rosebuds instead. Suppose you no longer have someone to feed you. There is no point in talking about 'safe' and 'dangerous' then. It's about either 'you' or 'someone else' who is responsible for anything that happens. That's all that counts."

The dove asked in response, "Is it good to know that the world is so big?"

"The world is what your eyes can see, and it is what we live in. So, knowing more about it makes you better. You can count on it." The lark said all of this snobbishly, but seriously.

The dove said to the lark, "I am searching for a magic fruit."

"Ain't got no clue. Why don't you ask that green worm down there? O' how pathetic! I never want to be something like that. It can move, but it can move forward and back only on a single tree. That tree is the entire world to that thing."
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he dove looked down and found something green crawling on a tree down below it.