The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 32

"I wonder if there's anything worth hunting for in here," Tiberius murmured, boldly sticking his head down what appeared to be an abandoned groundhog hole. However, his instincts told him there was something living down there. Sighing heavily as she watched her older brother disappear into the burrow, his fire brick red tail still visible in the darkness, Rosa mumbled, "Maybe you should stop sticking your head into trouble. Remember that rattlesnake?"

"Yeah, that thing was delicious."

"You were bitten twice!"

"So?"

"You're hopeless..."

The two hawks had been living with Alfred for three years now, making them four. For the past two years, they had been allowed to fly around the city and go hunting. As long as they came back when it was about to rain or it was getting dark, Alfred didn't mind how long they were out. And the pair always did return home. Sometimes they'd come back just because they missed him so much. The one time though they came back early was after Tiberius had tussled with a rattlesnake the third week after they first started heading outside. The hawk had won and eaten the snake but had been bitten twice in the process. Rosa had practically lost her mind while Alfred got him over to the clinic as soon as possible. The hawk had acted like nothing was wrong.

Over the three years since they had been bought from the pet store, the two siblings began to show off their personalities. Alfred and Dr. Laura Green always remarked that, though the pair looked very similar to each other, one could tell them apart no matter how far away they were. Rosa was very elegant in her actions but quite skittish as well. She was also pretty cheerful and happy most of the time. Tiberius proved to be very intelligent and cunning. He had a fierce temper but luckily didn't show that as much as he had when he was younger. The only other way to tell them apart was their eyes, since Tiberius had a lighter shade of brown than his sister, and their tails because Rosa's was a darker red than her brother's. Another obvious difference was that Tiberius was much bigger than Rosa.

The neighbors hadn't been happy in the meantime. After discovering that there was not one but two hawks in the building, the people who lived on the seventh floor became deathly afraid of both Tiberius and Rosa. They feared for the safety of their kids and pets. Some had even gone right up to Alfred and told him to get the hawks out of there. The old man, standing up for the young red tails, had firmly put his foot down and retorted right back that, as long as no one was injured because one or both of the red tailed hawks, they would stay inside the building. The neighbors just headed back for their apartments grumbling. Other than that, life had been good to Tiberius and Rosa.

Down in the groundhog hole, Tiberius was greeted with success as he found and killed two rabbits. Pulling them out, he placed on down in front of Rosa. "I believe you should be thanking me for your snack," he declared. Rolling her eyes, his sister muttered, "Yeah, thanks. Next time, can you not just put your head into random holes?" Snickering, the young hawk ate his rabbit while his little sister ate her own. When they were done, they then noticed the storm clouds rolling in. Without saying a word to each other, they took to the sky just as the rain came down.