Cinder's Ashen Flight

Cinder was a fledgling chimney swift found on the ground, unable to take flight. Swifts cannot perch like other birds; they cling to vertical surfaces. We housed him in a tall, cloth-lined enclosure. He'd spend his days clinging to the cloth, sleeping, and being hand-fed a gruel of insects. His recovery flight training involved a special tall room where he could practice his frenetic, bat-like flight. The flight room is empty now, missing the whirring sound of his wings, his sharp chirps, and the sight of him zipping back and forth, a creature born for the sky, never meant to land.