[Critique Group 1] submission for 5/31/18 session 851 words

[sitting.duck at springmail.com]

I wrote this for our May session. I presented it at the reading Sunday night. Since none of you were there, I'm going ahead and presenting it to our group as planned.

851 words
Why Cockatiel Wings Cross
by C. S. Boyd

Back when the world was new, and before humans introduced clocks, there were many birds but not as many as there are now. One of these birds was a Tiel. Tiels were uninteresting birds with dull grey feathers a white bib under their beaks, and bright orange cheeks. Perhaps this is why tiels were such curious birds.
Now, there was one tiel in particular that was more curious than most.
His mother called him Cocky. His father sometimes called him Cocky, but mostly, he called him other things which we will not mention in this story since it doesn't really matter. 
Well, anyway, Cocky, when he got old enough to fly, would launch himself from the edge of the nest hole and fly around and around the tree. As he grew stronger, he flew faster and faster and started flying higher and higher until he could almost look down on the tree where the nest was.
"Don't fly so high," admonished his mother.
"Straighten out your flight," advised his father. "You won't get anywhere flying in circles. There is nothing to eat at the top of this tree."
"I just wanted to see what is up there," insisted Cocky.
"Well, from now on, you and your clutch mates are going to need to go with your mother and me to learn to forage for food. It is time you learned how and where to search," said his father.
"OK," said Cocky, reluctantly.
And, so he did. But, at night when the other birds were asleep, Cocky would go exploring. One night he was out so long that he barely got home before the sun peeked over the horizon. He was so tired, he almost missed landing on the edge of the hole to the nest.
He stumbled in and plopped down exhausted at the feet of his mother and father.
"Where have you been," demanded his father.
Cocky was barely able to move, but that didn't dampen his excitement. "I flew higher than I have ever flown before," he said. "I almost reached the firmament at the top of the sky."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed his mother. She moved quickly to him and tried to gather him under her wings. She looked at Cocky's father. "You must do something. You have to stop our son from doing this crazy thing."
Cocky's father looked at him with a serious expression. "Cocky, you must stop trying to fly so high. You must never go into the firmament."
For several days Cocky heeded his parents warning, but he couldn't help but wonder what would happen. Every day he would stand gazing up at the firmament at the top of the sky and wonder.
One day, he could stand it no longer. Instead of flying in a circle to gain height, he flew straight up. He flew and he flew and he flew. It got colder and colder and still he flew. Finally, ice forming on his wing feathers, he reached the firmament. He grasp it with his feet and stuck his head up into the ceiling of the sky. Water filled his nostrils and he tried to pull his head out, but it was stuck. He pushed against the barrier with all his might, but then the tips of his flight feathers went through. The sun began to bleach the feathers on top of his head. After what seemed like forever, he pulled free. He was so tired and so cold that he began to fall. As he fell, the air grew warmer. As the ice began to thaw, he was able to spread his wings and glide to a landing at the bottom of the tree where the nest was.
At first his family didn't recognize him because the feathers on top of his head were standing straight up and some were white and some yellow.
"Cocky!" exclaimed his mother, "What has happened to you?"
"I flew up to the roof in the sky," said Cocky. He was so tired and scared he couldn't tell them what happened.
"But, your head," said his father, "the feathers are yellow and sticking up." 
"And your wings," said one of his clutch mates. "Your flight wings are so long now that they cross over your back."
Cocky looked around. Sure enough with his wings folded at his side, his flight wings were crossing over his back. He spread and closed his wings several times, and each time the long flight feathers crossed first one and then the other on top.
And so it was that all Cocky tiel's descendants had long flight feathers that crossed over their back when they folded their wings and the feathers on top of their head were yellow and stood up in a crest. 
Cockatiels are one of the fastest flying birds of the bird family reaching speeds up to 48 mph (80 kph), and their mood is clearly communicated by the position of their yellow crest. They are curious birds, climb using their beaks to pull themselves up, and are accomplished escape artists.