Ficlets

Thereafter, he could most often be seen waddling along the shore, pecking at the salmon he had caught.

One day, he hooked his talons into a fish so big he could not pull it from the water. His wings, though strong, could not lift the fish and his own bloated body from the sea. Thrown off balance, he tumbled into the water. There he stayed, floating like a duck, bobbing on the waves.

“Hmmmm,” thought he, “the world would better be, if only this one wish could be. If only the fish could not swim away from me.”

So the osprey stayed in the water, surrounded as he was by a school of herring and having no need to fly. The salt spray splashed into his eyes. His vision, once so keen, became dim and blurry. Over the course of time, the sea water washed the oil from his feathers. Slowly, he began to sink.