Mirage's Desert Song

Mirage was hit by a car in the desert, a greater roadrunner with a broken leg that healed with a limp. She couldn't chase prey at full speed anymore. We gave her a large, sandy enclosure with rocks and low shrubs. She'd run in sudden bursts, her crest raised, her long tail steering. She'd hunt lizards and insects we provided, dispatching them with swift pecks. The enclosure is too still now, missing the blur of her running, the soft cooing sounds she'd make at dawn, and her curious head-tilts as she watched everything with bright, dark eyes.