BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

September 2020

T

helovelynightingale

wasflyinghome

thisyearandyethe

didn’tseeasmanyplanes

asusual.Noonewas

around.Thetownsand

citiesandevencountries

hesawwerecoveredbya blanketofdeathly

silence.Andhewondered– hadhumans

reallystopped?Theydidn’tusuallygohome.

Didn’tmigrate.Norstopdoing.Although

somecalledthemhumanbeings,inhis

experiencetheyrarelyhadtimetobe.

Ashewentfurthernorthwards,closer

andclosertohome,thesamethingwas

trueeverywhere.Hedidn’tseetherandom

actsofkindnessorpeoplegrapplingwith

videocalls.Hewastoohighinthesky.What

hesawwasthecleanerairandtheother

animalsrunningfreeincities.Hesawthe

emptymotorwaysandtheemptystreetsand

theemptyshops.Nota soulwasbothering

thetrees.Noonecuttingthemdownto

buildontopofthem.Hesawa fewpeople

inuniforms(anarmyuniformhethought)

butthatwastheonlyarmyhesaw.Normally

therewouldbea warsomewhereandyetthe

only‘army’hesawwaspeaceful.Hecame

closerandclosertohome,thinkingallthe

while,untilhesawhisfamilyandflewto

jointhemwarblinga happytune.Andall

hisothercaresflewawayonthebreezeand

thesongofthenightingalesforcedoutthe

earlier,eeriesilence.

Dawncamethenextdayandthesunrose

higherandhigherlikea monarchnearing

thepeakofhercareer.And

throughtheday,thesun

reigned,inherbeautiful

crown,withherraysmaking

jewelsofalltheymet.The

fledglings,herloyalsubjects,playedin

theirplaygroundbeneathherbenevolent

gaze.Roundandroundthefallenfence,

carefreeandhappy,andtherewasnoone

theretoscarethemaway.

Andthenightingalelookedat them

andthenlookedat thelargenestsof

thehumans.Hesawthesadnessofthe

humansandhappinessofthefledglings and

sawthattheywereindirectcontrast.The

fledglingsusedtobewaryandkeptclose to

thenest,andnowit wasthehumans’turn.

TURMOILANDLOSS

Andyetevenhe,themostfar-sighted of

nightingales,didnotseetheturmoilinside

theheartsofsomanyinnocenthumans,

andevenif hehad,hemightnothave

understoodwhy.Hethoughtthehumans

shouldbehappytostepoffthetreadmill

theycalledlife.Thefreeandhappy

nightingalewasblissfullyignorantof all

thosewhohadtheoppositeofhisrest.

Allthosepeoplewhowereverysad

insidethoseneststhatweresobigyet

hadn’tprotectedtheirheartsfromloss.

Outside,thebirdfeltsecuresinging

withoutdanger,deepintodusk.Thebird

wasathome.Whileidlyperchingona

branchhethoughttohimself:isn’tit

funnythatwhenhumansareathome,

thebirdsareattheirsafest?

WINNER AGE 13–17

The Homecoming

By Danielle Amouzou-Akue, age 14

GO ONLINE Visit our website to

watch videos of the competition

winners reading their own stories:

discoverwildlife.com/NOYD

He saw the cleaner

air and the other

animals running

free in the cities. He

saw the empty

streets and shops.