DAWN BROKE OVER A SEEMINGLY empty airstrip. It wasn’t even an airport. Just two paved lines that ended in mowed grass on either side.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the airstrip’s emptiness, Adena was in bird heaven. As soon as I rolled down the window, she leapt to the ledge then pushed off to beat her way into the sky.
Which was all well and good until I noted the distant hum of an incoming airplane. “Adena, get back here!” I called.
Of course, the one time I needed her safely on my shoulder, the raven ignored me. She beat her wings harder, ascending higher and higher until she was no more than a dot in the sky. Freedom apparently called more strongly out here in the boonies than it ever had above city avenues. Why had I never paid attention to my gut and bought the bird a leash?
Sq
