I flew. The sun shone in my eyes, making it impossible to see far. The wind rustled my soft, waterproof feathers, as I swooped and dived, trying to lose my enemies.
You see, my ex-friends Hagrin the hog and Denca the deer betrayed me to the humans. They’ve found a way to communicate with them and got me captured and put on display, me a stunning, powerfully built red-tailed hawk. Then Denca came and freed me. Now I am supposed to trust her when she says she was tricked by Hagrin? Then, I just put as much distance as possible, using the air current to speed me along, away from her.
I will never ever trust anyone again, I promised to myself. Now, I am on a journey to find a quick, painless way to die. So far, I have considered starving and drowning but neither were quick or effective enough. When you have lost as much as I have, you lose the will to live and want to die with as little suffering as possible.
The sky slowly darkened as day slowly became night, dusk tinting the sky and fluffy clouds peachy pink. Eventually all the light faded and the midnight dark, velvet sky with stars twinkling and glittering like fireflies came out. Even though I am depressed and living in a cruel, heartless dream when all my family has been killed, a small part of me asked to stay a little while and admire the sky.
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I didn’t feel like stopping, so I kept flying, not caring when icicles formed on my beak and frost on my feathers. Nor the increasingly chilly wind. I dipped lower in the sky, fatigue and ice working together to stop my wings beating. I landed, too tired and frozen to even care if anyone else was around. I felt like Death itself and I slept a deep, deep sleep the kind the dead do.
I woke up to a fire melting the ice on the tips of my wings and beak. I felt glad I didn’t die, then remorse at myself for wanting to live. Fear and suspicion followed straight after. Αn animal fed me something warm and sweet and soft. I opened my sore eyes to find the world spinning and edged in red and yellow. I closed them, and then opened again a little while later.
A beautiful vixen met my eyes. Her eyes were a startling dark blue, the deepest part of the ocean residing inside. She spoke her name “Faine” and her voice sounded lilting yet powerful. He dizzying bright red pelt sparkled with dewdrops in the weak morning sunlight.
Her companion, a young, sprightly wolf looked at me regally distrust in his golden-brown flecked piercing eyes. His smooth, grey coat looked almost invisible in the growing light. His voice musical but quiet spoke his name “Fang”.
Suddenly, a hog burst from the trees, running straight at me. Then another. It was Hagrin. Along with a friend to help. He had come, at last to seek his revenge. Faine threw herself in front of me, as Hagrin lunged himself at her. I could only watch, not even move to help Faine, as they started fighting. Faine dodged blow after blow, seemingly tiring almost right away. Hagrin then had the final shot, a clear path to Faine’s heart with his hoof. Then Faine somehow twisted out of the way and, fast as lightning had her claws to Hagrin’s neck. The other hog crept up behind Fang, which would have been a goner, had not someone yelled “Behind YOU!” It was Denca.
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“Do you want me to kill him? He is obviously here for you.” Faine ruthlessly asked. “No!” I replied. “This is my kill to make!” I dived at Hagrin, as Faine let go. He went and sat on top of me, as I knew he would. My thoughts run through my head. I could taunt Hagrin into killing me right now, I realized. What have I got to live for? Then, I saw my wife’s face in my head. What would she do? I asked myself. I knew the answer, almost as soon as I asked the question. She would seek revenge on Hagrin, have it, make new friends, find something to fight for and live to see her deepest dreams come true. She would make sure her family’s death accounted for something.
“NO” I cried, twisting upwards and dislodging Hagrin’s hold over me, for a moment. That moment was enough. “You DON’T get to do this. Not after you killed my wife and two kids in front of me, after you betrayed my secret position to the humans and tricked Denca. Just before you put ME in a cage to die. You won’t kill me. Not today!!” I don’t know where I found the strength, but I somehow pushed against his already weakened hold and slashed my claws at his neck. Hagrin begged me to not kill him. I reaaaaaaaally wanted to but resisted the urge and left there as a warning. He hobbled away his friend helping him and yelled over his shoulder “This is not the end!!” I shrugged. I didn’t really care. I now had friends and dreams to fulfill and, at long last felt I had justified my family and done right by them.
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Are you interested in writing? Neos Kosmos is offering students from Greek schools across Australia the opportunity to contribute to a supplement for our newspaper written entirely by students.The idea for the project came about to give students of Modern Greek the opportunity to use their language skills in an enjoyable way. Not only will it improve their Greek, but it will also young people a platform to express their thoughts, needs, and to also raise their concerns about what is happening in the world around them.
While the Greek language stories can be about any issue whatsoever, we also welcome articles written in English but with a focus on issues of interest to the diaspora. The project is open to students of all year levels, from kindergarten right through to high school, and all levels of Greek and English. We also welcome photographs and videos for our site.
If successful, the Neos Kosmos team believes that the project will have positive benefits on Greek language education and will also highlight issues of importance to young people regarding their Greek heritage. And our main objective from a social perspective is to engage with young people and get them thinking.For further information, Greek schools across the country are encouraged to contact Neos Kosmos. Email editor@neoskosmos.com.au