Her eyes had grown accustomed to the glare, which made the sky even deeper. Soon enough the sky and the sun would be out of sight, under the trees which lined the bottom of the gully. But the land, while beautiful, changed too slowly over both time and distance to keep her interest long, so she turned her attention to the sky.

Suddenly, just as she was about to lose sight of the blue, her eyes found a huge, black bird, completely stationary, just surfing the air. She back-tracked, climbed a rock to get a better view, without once taking her eyes away from it. Once she'd done so, another came, as if from nowehere, to join it. Then another, and two more, until there were five of these great birds, their blackness making them stand out sharply against the brilliant backdrop. They were so graceful, lazily powerful, just playing in the drafts. Spiralling up and down, periodically flapping - no, not flapping - stroking those enormous wings.

And as she watched, she was aware of people going past, aware that they hardly even saw her, let alone the amazing dance going on above their heads. And that made her feel special, like the birds were dancing just for her.

Then her perspective changed, and she could feel the air currents (the hesitant breeze below became so much more higher up) through her feathers. She wasn't watching anymore, but was playing along with them, taking her place in the dance. The sun was as hot, but with the rush of the air her body felt more comfortable. She could sense the power it was taking to hold those wings steady, imagine the delicacy of the tail movements, which, after all, made the difference between soaring upwards or plummeting down.

She lost track of time, unaware of how long she stood watching. Someone called to her, and distractedly she looked away.

There was a man there, asking her, inanely, if she was watching the birds. Well of course she was watching the... birds?

They'd gone. Completely. She'd looked away, and they had disappeared. The man commented they'd gone. She agreed with him, and he went on his way. She stood, trying desperately to see them, sending waves of disgust after the stupid man who'd broken the spell. Then she shrugged. It had been special, but all things must end. So, treasuring the memory, she continued on her way down the gully.