Sunspot

Saffron wasn’t very fond of lakes. Too wet. No shiny. Bad for wings. She cleaned her black feathers as she stared down at the dark water from her branch. She was looking for new sparkles to decorate her nest. Pebbles. Hair clips. Wrappers. Anything she could fit in her beak. She liked sparkly things very much. Her dark eyes specially picked out something new in the lake. A glowing light appeared in the water. Saffron wanted it. She snapped open her wings and pushed off the branch in a dive toward the lake. The glow was near the edge so Saffron landed in the shallows but the glow had disappeared. Saffron’s head tilted. Shiny? Where go? Come back? No good pebbles here. Too wet. Back to nest. Saffron took flight again circling the lake as the glow returned. This time saffron slowly approached and circled before landing smack in the middle of the shine. It disappeared. She splashed in the water and let out a caw of frustration. Shiny stop running! Want! Pretty! She took off again this time with some difficulty as her wings were slightly submerged. Saffron climbed this time. High into the air. She looked down. The shiny was back! In the center of the lake. Speed. Must catch it. Dive. Too fast! Shiny can’t run! Can’t hide! Got it!

Binoculars pressed to my eyes I watched as the crow dove towards the surface of the lake. It didn’t pull up at the last second. There was no saving this bird. It crashed into the lake surface face first. It made less sound than a pebble being tossed into the deep water. I didn’t want to watch anymore. There was nothing to see. I knew that bird wasn’t coming up anymore. Nothing good ever comes from chasing illusions.