There was pain all over his body and he struggled to breathe. He opened his eyes and knew that’d be the last time he’d ever open them. The grip around his neck was becoming tighter. He knew his end has come. He remembered the times he spent. His struggles, how he learnt flying, how he escaped a predator. The fight to get his soul mate, his first four baby eaglets, the moment when he was chosen as Chief, the draughts and the threats. A modest unassuming nobody falcon that he was in his young times became somebody, envied by everybody.
And then it happened. There was an audible snap and in an instant his eyes went blank and his consciousness clouded. There was fall of another great leader.
Months later when a fledgling asked an older falcon about their legendary leader and how he was killed the old falcon enthusiastically agreed.
The young saw the enthusiasm but what he didn’t see was a small teardrop that escaped from that senior citizen when he heard the word ‘killed.’
“Well kiddo” she started. “You obviously have heard all the stories. What else do you want?”
“You know what happens to stories when they pass mouth to mouth. I want to know what he was like in real life from a bird that saw him with her own eyes.”
“Well…every word you said is true. After his fall lot of tales were born. They made him a celebrity. But he was a simple falcon just like everyone else.”
“He was the least cared falcon of his family. By the time he was born he had lost his father and by the time he learnt how to fly, he had lost his mother. Eventually he was separated out of his nest. He was small lonely modest bird without any friends. In short he was nobody. Once there was a violent storm that ripped off all our nests, nobody knows who fed him but he survived and rejoined the cast. One day there was a buzz near our tree. I went out to see what it was.
I saw he has killed a bird of almost his size and left it near our tree. Many young fledglings and some older birds got some bite. This repeated for some times. But one day instead of flying away, he perched on the branch and when other birds came he spoke to them for the first time.”
“What did he say?”
“Well I don’t remember the exact words but what he meant was he wanted to be accepted in their cast and he wants to be friends with them. There were some affirming nods and he flew away. Later it became a routine activity around the tree. He fed many younger and older birds which was an unusual behavior among us. Many openly criticized and some even tried to stop him saying he was ruining the chance of young birds to learn how to hunt. That’s when a revelation struck him and he stopped bringing food to young. Instead he took them for hunting.”
“With time his popularity and influence grew. The young loved him, the adults and parents didn’t like him much. The Chief and his supporter birds didn’t like him at all. The Chief even lured him to join his league but he refused saying he had no interest in becoming Chief. But they didn’t believe him. They saw him as a threat to their power and influence, and planned to kill him. But he survived the attack and that led to a big riot within the cast which he himself solved.”
“Another incident worth mentioning, many knew he had crush on a fellow falcon who happened to be my friend. He constantly tried to win her. One day a falcon challenged him for a duel to win her heart. It was a fierce battle between two birds each determined to win her heart and he won. It was soon followed by three more such fights and he was invincible. She finally agreed. They became very good couple.”
“Within a few months when the Chief was attacked by a raccoon it was he who went for Chief’s rescue. In spite of his efforts he couldn’t save him. Eventually he was asked to take his place and he agreed. Under his leadership, we were one of the most satisfied, safe and strong cast in our region until that last fight. It was the same predator who took life of previous Chief. It had attacked an old soul. He went to rescue her but he himself was an old falcon and was badly injured. The predator took him away. And thus an era of a great leader came to an end.”
For a while neither of the two birds spoke. The fledgling too had tears in her eyes but she immediately recovered and broke the silence.
“But grandma, I didn’t find what I was looking for. From where did all the motivation come from? What was his success mantra?”
“Sweetie, listen to these words carefully.”
“All the great things are simple and some can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy and hope.”
“But there’s someone special. You have to question him constantly and seek answers from him. He’s the one you’ve to be accountable. You know who that is sweetie?”
“My mom I guess. She constantly watches over me. She taught me the things.”
“Well yes that’s what moms do but no, it’s not her, it’s you.”
“Me?”
“Yes.We call him conscience. Ask him what he thinks about freedom, justice, honor, duty mercy and hope. Seek the truth and it shall set you free. All the motivations and inspirations are conjured within us in that special someone. All the greatness outside is a mere reflection of who we are inside. Whenever you get struck, or face an impasse he’ll guide you in your decisions. If you rely on outside sources for your motivation, it may be destroyed or locked up. The Motivation has to come from within as it did to our late Chief.
Good luck kiddo.”
“Thank you grandma.”
coffee thoughts and me 
Yet more of this kind…
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