CRACK!

I smashed my beak hard on the spotted eggshell as light streamed in blinding me. I heard a faint squawking in the background and eagerly pushed myself out of the shell. My siblings Rupert, Ralf, and Ruby were already crying for food and mom, and suddenly realized I was the smallest of the four. I had to get Mom's attention and started squawking loudly, crying with all my might.

“Finally!” cackled a loud booming voice, “my baby featherlings are all here and I will be crowned the best hunter of all the land.”

Frightened and in shock, I looked up and a dark shadowing figure glared over us. They were dressed in a white lab coat and big foggy goggles. I went silent and so did my brothers and sister, not a cry for food, nor a sound for mom. I quickly glanced around quietly observing my surroundings looking for an exit. I was trapped in a plastic food container, a blue lid with small holes that let the light shine through, and a thin layer of tan bedding material littered the floor. I looked around the bigger room, tens of small taxidermy rodents covered the walls. This monster was hungry for power. Realizing I had nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide I shifted myself into the corner to pass the time as it was the place that I felt safest.

Abruptly, the lid opened and cold air rushed into the box, the man scooped Me up holding me tight, I shrieked squirming, trying to wiggle my way out of the man's quickly tightening grasp. The man's white latex gloves rubbed against my bare skin and squawked even louder.

“Shut it you tiny beast,” the monster giggled as he clamped and squeezed my beak shut. Out of nowhere, the man then pulled out a syringe with a shiny metallic needle stuck onto the end. A tinted yellow liquid sloshed around and my gag reflexes kicked in, my stomach ached and I started to get light-headed. 

“A drop of this into you and you’ll become the fastest, strongest, and biggest falcon known to mankind!”  he chuckled, the man stuck the needle in me, as I continued to squirm and wiggle and felt as the drops of the liquid were injected into me. 

Suddenly, CRUNCH “Whoops,” the man giggled, and I shrieked in pain and agony. My newly forming weak bones in my miniature wing had been squished and almost snapped in the man's clumsy but sturdy grip.

 Again, I was lowered back into the plastic containers with my siblings. Quickly I ran to them huddling for warmth. A tingling sensation of fear struck me as I ran toward the thought of safety and comfort. Ruby had been scooped up next, then followed by Rupert and Ralph. Later that night, Mother finally arrived, food in hand she couldn't catch a break. Almost as if in a line she went down the row feeding each of us. But by the time she got to me, there was almost nothing left, I whimpered for more but I was out of luck. Being the smallest gave me a big disadvantage. I always had to push and shove my way to the front and it was made clear that none of my siblings liked me because of this. Sometimes they would gang up on me and I felt like I wasn't good enough or even deserved to be with them.

About six weeks later we started to shed our baby fuzz and feathers started to grow in. Soon we would start to fly, mother made it look easy and I was determined to be the first out of everyone. I couldn’t let myself get bullied anymore and I had to prove my talent. One by one we jumped out of the makeshift nest onto a soft cushion. Ralph first, he flapped his baby wings helplessly but landed safely, Ruby and Rupert followed doing the same. Next, it would be me, as I took the leap of faith the air rushed past my body. I tried to move my wing, but something was wrong. My right wing had been bent and crooked by the devilish man weeks earlier and I couldn't control or save myself. Only my left wing extended, I tumbled, twisted, and turned as the ground came closer. I tried hard to extend my right wing but it wouldn't straighten, it cramped and I yelped in pain. Without being able to slow myself down the ground came fast, and I crashed into the ground nearly hitting my head. I was safe but when my siblings screamed in laughter, I sulked away embarrassed, only for myself.

Nearly a week later everyone but me could fly. I felt like I had been left behind dust. I was always alone and no one ever wanted to be with me, I started to lose hope.

One morning the monster swiftly scooped me up and yelled happily, “See you soon, or maybe never again!” Confused, I looked around as I watched my cackling sibling point at me as I got carried away. He took me outside where I had never been before and breathed in the warm air. My toes tingled and my breath quickened, I practically leaped out of the man's arms ready to feel the grass sink in between my toes. The trees danced in the wind and summer sunlight warmed my feathers. This place was so much better than inside the monster's little cabin. Quickly I scurried away into the tall grass dancing with myself. I at last realized I belonged in the wild outdoors.

Soon the sun was setting and I made myself comfortable in a nearby bush. Throughout the night I could hear rustling and could see lurking animals. I shivered and shook, I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. But when the sun rose I did too. My stomach was rumbling and I needed food. When the coast was clear I jumped out of the bush and scavenged for food. I had been watching other birds pull worms out of the dirt and I tried to do the same. But whenever I joined in with other birds to find food they all flew away. Confused by them I observed and I realized I was much larger, they were scared of me. I was a hunting bird and fed off of small rodents while they only ate insects. Still, I could barely fly but I needed to catch myself breakfast. Then it finally occurred to me that I had been dumped outside because I was doing too much work and I wasn’t meeting the standards of what the man wanted, I wasn’t even able to fly.

I spent the rest of the morning practicing capturing food. Occasionally I would grasp an insect or two between my claws but it was hard. 

Suddenly a big gust of wind swept past me and a huge car almost crashed into me, and then another and another. Lost and confused, I stumbled my way into more and more oncoming traffic. Out of nowhere a woman appeared and I tried to run the other way but was still dizzy. I tripped and fell to the floor, in one swift move she grabbed me. Once again I had been captured, this time in a bag. The darkness made my brain fuzzy and I think at one point I had fallen asleep.

Once again I was being carried somewhere. I was frightened but I knew there was nothing I could do and I sat helplessly in the bottom of the bag waiting for my fate. The bag was soon opened and a bright light streamed in, making me squint my eyes. I could make out where some other animals were sitting at tables. Some of them were squirming out of the humans' grasp, and yelping for help while others looked calm and relaxed. I was filled with competing emotions.

I later found out I was at a vet clinic that helps animals like me in bad situations. They weren't there to hurt me but at that time I didn't know and I put up a pretty good fight as they tried to take pictures, give me shots, and shove medicine down my throat.

That day a young lady named Olivia took me home and fed me warm food just like my mother. For once in my life I felt safe, she made me the softest comfiest bed I had ever laid my head on and I had the best night of sleep. In the morning she fixed me a huge meal and all through the morning I ate and slept glad not to be in the arms of that devil.

Weeks passed and she taught me how to bend and extend my wings, for almost an hour each day she helped me practice teaching me the ways of other birds. Soon enough I could just about fly. And the only reason I could was because of her, I was extremely grateful and always tried to obey her, staying out of her way when she needed space or cuddling up close to her when she needed me most. While outside I was able to observe the other birds and slowly I learned to hunt, first catching small insects and then growing to catch small rodents for myself. I had grown so far in the last couple of months.

One cold autumn day, Olivia asked me if I wanted to compete in a hunting competition “Hey Remy, would you ever want a chance to compete in a falcon hunting race?” I nodded my head eagerly excited for a new challenge.

And only two weeks later I was lined up at the start ready to race whoever was on my path to victory. It was a cold foggy morning and I could feel the effect of the moisture in my wings. But before we could even start the race I had already spotted my old owner and my siblings. They looked nervous, Ruby was shaking and Ralf's eyes kept darting back and forth, they looked terrified to disappoint their old man.

But Rupert looked determined and ready, “Funny to see you here,” he laughed. Disgusted by him, I looked away trying my hardest to focus on myself.

I noticed I looked bigger and stronger than all of them, giving me a boost of confidence; I knew it was because Olivia loved and cared for me, unlike the monstrous man. I had a chance to win but It was going to be a close and tough competition.

BAM the gunshot was off and the race had begun, I flapped my wings hard pushing myself but also trying to conserve energy since I knew it was going to be a long race. All I had to do was hunt down more rodents than any of my siblings could within the hour.

As I observed my surroundings I overlooked a huge forest filled with gigantic yellowing pine trees. The needles littered the brown grass, and I knew there would be many animals near the ground, and others hiding under the shade of the trees, so I flew closer to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Ruby and Ralf creep up behind me. They were going to try and prevent me from winning while Rupert took the lead. I drove down to the ground trying to get them off my tail but they were relentless. 

After almost ten minutes of chasing, they finally gave up and I lost them in the trees. I had lost ten mixtures of my time and Rupert had already caught two small rodents getting rewarded two points. Tired out, I flew slower trying to catch my breath but I wasn't going to give up that easily. I spotted a rabbit and dove down to catch it; as I grasped it in my beak it squirmed but I wasn't going to let go. I pushed myself hard trying to get back to score a point. Rupert was only one point ahead. 

Even after 40 minutes of consistent catching later he was always a point ahead, I had to find a way around him to beat him. From high in the air I spotted a family of rats, I grasped one with each foot and one in my beak. I would now be in the lead if I could hold onto them. It was a struggle trying to fly with three all at once and the rain had started to drizzle. As soon as I got back to the start line people started cheering, my heart started pounding. All I had to do was keep my lead and I would win. I took off again but as I got higher up, both Ruby and Ralf had spotted me. I flapped my wings harder pushing myself to my limits. They were slowly gaining on me and fatigue started to kick in. In a last attempt, I drove towards the ground speeding up quickly, and right before I hit the ground I swooped up and my feathers brushed the wet grass beneath me. Behind me, I heard two thumps and a squeal. Done for good.

The last few minutes passed in a blur, I had caught 2 more small rodents and time was finally up. As they counted up the totals I paced back and forth, hoping my efforts were good enough to win. A young gentleman stepped up to the podium to announce the winners, “In third place,” he said with a loud clear voice, “Jeremy!” Everyone clapped loudly and Jeremy proudly took the podium in third. “In second place drumroll please, Rupert!” Rupert stepped up to the podium looking nervous, almost terrified that he wasn't meeting his master's standards. The man's bald head turned bright red out of fury and he grumbled under his breath, the people standing nearby backed up slowly giving him space.

“The winner of this year's falcon hunting race is... Remy!!” people cheered and clapped. I felt ecstatic, so many eyes on me. As I stepped up to the podium  Rupert glared hard at me but I ignored it and held a small grin on my face, holding my head high, and finally feeling like a champion after all my hard work.

 As I wrapped up my story, I watched as my children climbed into bed “Learn to keep going and keep believing, never let someone else's opinions put you down, and stay strong my little ones,” I said in a whisper as I tucked them good night into bed.