A Story for Lucas

Once upon a time there was a bird who lived happily in a giant redwood tree. Every day the bird would wake up in its nest and fly out to look for food. Every night the little bird flew back to the tree for a good night's rest.

This went on day after day for years.

But one evening something very sad happened. The bird returned to its tree, but the tree was no longer there. Some cruel men had cut the tree down.

The bird cried, for his tree was gone.

With nothing else to do, the bird began to fly and fly and fly, looking for a new place to live.

One day the little bird was flying along and saw thousands of other birds filling a treeless field. The bird was a little nervous about joining these other birds, but he didn't know what else to do, so he took a chance.

The little bird flew down and landed among these other birds. Much to his relief the other birds welcomed him and listened to his story about his long lost tree. Many of the other brids told similar stories; they had lost their trees too.

So while the little birds did not have a tree to nest in, at least they had each other. They were friends, and for a time at least, that was enough.

Every now and again, while the the little bird rested among his friends at night, he felt as though the strongest branches in the world were holding him up. And he hoped . . .