The Wisdom of Birds
From her vantage point, at the apex of the majestic Sequoiadendron giganteum, Lotte strains her eyes to see as far as she can in all directions. The giant redwoods dominate the landscape for miles and miles, but barely visible to the north are the firs. And to the east are the shorter silver birches, illuminating the forest with their silver-white bark. Then to the south are the spruces and finally to the west, are the fragrant eucalyptus trees which, altogether, make up the land of Hillock Faria. The “Hillock” in the name Hillock Faria is an allusion to the many mountains that surround the forest, making it very difficult to access and thus invade. Because of this geographic advantage, Lotte’s people have enjoyed relative tranquillity for millennia.
The society of Hillock Faria is highly structured. Every adult, over twenty-two years old, has a defined path which they have earned through years of exploration and focused training. Sitting on the balcony of her family’s tree abode, which is nestled in the upper regions of an 80-meter-high giant redwood, Lotte ponders the path she is on. Lotte is sixteen years old and an established member of “Die Kinder,” the section of society which every child born in Hillock Faria enters at birth. On her sixteenth birthday, she had officially entered a two-year period of intense “path exploration” where she would have one-to-one training with the elders of each section of society to learn where her strengths and interests lie. Lotte’s eighteenth birthday would mark the climax of this period of exploration: when a decision would be made to follow only one societal path. This decision would involve the approval of the elder of that societal section, thus, it is not solely dictated by the individual Kinder.
Lotte feels ensconced and safe in her house in the sky, which hugs the 10-meter-wide trunk of a giant redwood. With the tip of her index finger, she traces the borders of the ivy leaves that grip the deeply grooved, reddish-brown wood which comprises the structure of her home. On this day she is absorbed by her thoughts. Would she become a talented healer or a scribe? Or is she more connected to trees and nature and would develop into a spiritual sage? Or maybe she would be skilled at finding food and would become a feeder? There were many more paths that she could follow and she felt the excitement of discovery growing within her.
As Lotte sat deeply breathing in the cool, fresh air that wafts through the branches of the giant redwood, she hears a flutter of tiny wings and feels the gentle grip of little feet on her left arm. “Oh, hello Fritz! It’s been so long since our last meeting. How are you, my friend? What news do you bring?” Lotte warmly greets a diminutive, crested tit. His tiny white face with its distinctive black ‘fish-hook’ markings beams up at her, the wind ruffling the attractive black and white chequered quiff of feathers on his head.
Lotte has a secret that she is hiding from even her family. She has a very rare ability to communicate with birds through thoughts or speech. This ability is not unheard of in her society, but it is so rare that many generations live and die before it is again discovered to have occurred in an individual. Lotte isn’t sure why she is unable to share this aspect of herself with others, but she has an instinctive feeling that for now, it is best to keep it hidden.
Fritz twitches nervously with excitement in the palm of Lotte’s hand as he relays all that he has seen and heard on his recent journey. He has been far outside the boundaries of Hillock Faria to a place further north. It was so far north that this place was completely unknown to anyone in their region of the world. Fritz speaks of foreign concepts such as “science” and “technology”. He tells of people wrapped in thick coats to keep warm in a perpetually snowy landscape, which is dominated by solid structures that are not made of wood. He calls this place “Die Stadt” and says that the heart of this society are thinkers called “scientists”. He also says that he has crossed paths with their mutual friend, Otto, a bullfinch with a sharp intellect and an empathetic soul. Otto has made an even longer journey, but to the east, and he has brought news of a vast region of island dwellers, all interconnected in a seemingly endless new world of ocean and sunshine. This news makes Lotte’s imagination take flight and her heartbeat quicken. This was the first time she had challenged her winged friends with such a task, and she was now astounded with the result. She needed time to process all this new information and make sense of it all. But Lotte knew that this was the beginning of something new, something completely foreign to her experience thus far, but something thrilling and to be further explored.