The Voice Inside

M e m o r y :)

Young Quipper scrambled over the sticks messily woven into the entrance of the bowl-shaped nest, nestled cozily in between the low, hidden branches of a leafy bush. Another lyrebird approached, this one fully grown, with plumage colors a more subdued forest brown than Quipper's baby black feathers and perched calmly at the mouth of the nest. His mother.

"Quipper, listen carefully." She cocked her head to one side as she addressed her first and only son. "Do you hear that buzzing?"

Quipper poked his head out of the nest. A warbling keening noise, that seemed to vibrate in his skull resonated through the sky, filling up the forest and winding its way into every animal's ears. It filled Quipper with a sense of awe and terror. What could be big and strong enough to make such a sound?

"What is it, Mum?"

"Look up, dear."

Quipper looked up to see a large, shiny object crossing through the sky. Two stiff, motionless wings were stretched on the opposite sides of the outside of its strange plumage. There were three large tail feathers, two sticking out at the back and one sticking straight up. Like the wings, they were stiff. It was strangely shiny, even though it was just plain white with a simple blue stripe. When Quipper looked closely, he could see weird black markings on the side.

"What is it, Mum?"

"That is a stiffbird. Sometimes they fly over the forest. They can go anywhere, and fly longer than any bird. They do not speak, and aren't really alive."

"But how can that be, Mum?"

"They're one of the featherless' creations."

"What's that, Mum?"

"They are the ones who are featherless. They dress themselves in odd, brightly colored pelts and have fur on the tops of their heads. They are the ones with stick-like arms and long bodies, and loud voices, who cannot fly.

"They take our trees, using their foreign creations that spew smoke everywhere, and they trap birds." Quipper's mother's gaze grew hard. "They took your father. I don't know where, but I know I will never see him again." She turned to her son. "Stay away from them, you hear me? Stay away from them. Hide, and never let yourself be seen. Use your voice inside to lead them astray if they ever come into our sacred forest. Use your own strengths, instead of wishing for more you cannot and will never have.

"And remember, they don't just take birds. They will kill also, and are the enemies and predators of all."

Quipper shook his head, casting off the last remnants of the flashback. Mum. he thought. What if I never see her again?

You must. It was as if his own mind and conscious were talking.

You can, and you will.

But how?

Remember what Mum said.

The featherless are the enemies and predators of all.