One day, a little boy and a little girl walked by Feather. They picked her up and passed her back
and forth looking at her.
When they threw her back to the ground and started to walk away, Feather heard the little girl
ask the little boy, “What kind of bird is that feather from?”
Yes, what kind of bird do I belong to? thought Feather. And from that moment on, she began to
ask herself that question all the time.
A strong burst of wind came along and blew Feather up into the sky.
The feeling of fluttering high in the air was delightful.
If I belonged to a bird, I could fly even higher! she thought.
How she longed for the sky! How she longed to soar!
Feather drifted down onto a tree by the waterside.
A kingfisher was perched there on a branch, head tilted, silently watching the water’s surface.
Feather shyly asked the kingfisher, “Am I yours?”
The kingfisher did not respond to her and suddenly plunged into the water. After a moment, it
flew back up with a small silvery fish still wriggling in its mouth.
The kingfisher flew to the tree branch again, and again tilting its head, sat silently watching
the water’s surface.
Feather asked the kingfisher over and over, “Am I yours?”
But the kingfisher was so focused on catching fish it completely ignored her.
Feather waited silently.
At long last, when the kingfisher was no longer busy, it turned its head, took a
long look at Feather and said, “You are not mine.”
A strong burst of wind came along and blew Feather up into the sky.
A cuckoo flew by alongside her.
“Am I yours?” Feather inquired.
The cuckoo was so focused on calling out
cuckoo, cuckoo to people that it didn’t pay
any attention to Feather.
The wind kept blowing and Feather kept floating in the sky.
When the cuckoo came flying back around, Feather
once again inquired, “Am I yours?”
The cuckoo turned its head, took a long look, and
said, “Not mine! Not mine!”
Feather drifted down by the side of a pond.
In the shallow water was a heron looking for food.
Feather asked the heron, “Am I yours?”
The heron, focused on continuing its search, paid no attention to her.
Copyright © 2017 by Cao Wenxuan. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
