DREAM
Copyright (c) by Rick Yost

I am a bird in flight. I effortlessly swoop down over the tall grass and then soar high into the air. I skim the treetops brushing the highest leaves with my tail. I fly wherever I desire without a care.
It is a beautiful day, full of sunshine and warm wind in my wings. I hover over a large, stone castle surrounded by tall stone walls. Inside the corners of these huge walls are updrafts and whirlwinds that make for fun and frivolous aerial acrobatics.
After enjoying my new aviary skills for what seemed like hours, I became weary and perched atop one of the walls. As I stood gazing out over the surrounding countryside I began to think about my existence in that small, sparrow-like, feathered body. However real this all seemed to me, I knew I was in the middle of a dream. I knew I was asleep in a bed somewhere and would soon wake up as a human being. Thinking of this made my tiny head hurt.
How wonderful; to be as free as the birds that soar in the sky. What a life; to not have the struggles, the injustices, the wars of humanity weighting you down to the ground. To be free of the poorly constructed societies and foolish, murderous religions to which so many cling to the death. These zealots of hate; these worshippers of myth only serve to show that mankind is the inferior species.
If they had the feathers, would they fly away from humanity and all its foolish endeavors?
If given the choice to either wake up in my tired and aching human existence, or turn my back on this stone castle that is my humanity and never look back- would I fly away?
The answer is yes. If next I were a Gazelle, I would fear the teeth of the Lion, but my fears would be of the natural world around me. My enemies would be the next-up on the food chain, not my own kind. I would give up this life for a more natural, balanced, and simple existence as any of the superior life forms on the planet.
A warm breeze blows through my feathers. My dream ends as I spread my wings and look up to the sky.