Ark

Entry 4

I want very much to catch up with everything that has happened from the moment I arrived here, but first I must relate the astonishing sight that I have witnessed only minutes earlier. I would not have allowed even those minutes to pass, but for the fact that I was engaged in a frantic search for a spare piece of charcoal. Well, I guess all that's left is to describe what I saw.

It started when I was looking through the window at the clouds, and two moons, and at the birds that populate this region of the planet. (It seems odd to me now that I should be more surprised to find birds on this planet than trees or people — or, now that I think of it, to have come here myself. But there is plenty of time to dwell on the nature of cognitive dissonance. At first there were only small birds, which were difficult to recognise from far away. But as I looked, I came to realise that one of the shadows was higher, and larger. The same shape appeared to soar above the others, then hover for a moment against the backdrop of the sky. Finally, it selected a target, and dropped like a stone towards the flock. I saw it attach itself to a smaller bird, while the rest scattered in all directions. The predator and its prey somersaulted in the air — three times I think — before the larger bird flapped its wings and started to climb back to its original height. From the size and shape of its wings, I came to see that it was almost certainly a bird of prey. It was a little too far away for me to be certain about the colour, but if I were to guess, I would say it was probably brown. Its size was more suggestive of an eagle than that of a hawk or falcon. The sight of it filled me with a sense of breathless wonder, particularly as I appreciate how rarely I would have a chance to watch one of these birds, even when I was back on Earth, and I was disappointed to see that it was heading for the treeline. But then, just as I thought the spectacle was nearly over, another shadow passed across my view. I can only estimate that this must have been twenty times the size of the eagle, certainly larger than any animal I have ever seen in the sky before. It glided on featherless wings, and I even believe that I saw the sun (well, this planet's sun) shine through their thin membrane — although I am willing to confess that this may have been an illusion. But then the creature snapped its jaws, flapped slowly twice, and rose over the distant treetops to disappear from the visible sky. It left no birds in its wake, and all I can assume at this moment is that the bird of prey must have been preyed upon. I could only stare at the place where it had been.

In the settlement below, I heard the sentries' call, a single word that sounded (to my ears) very much like "Sky Ee Roo". They shouted it repeatedly, until even these shouts were drowned out by several others, and wondered if I ought to join the bustling activity below. It has calmed somewhat now, but my heart has not. All I can think of is to sit and write — as quickly as I can — of all that has happened in the past few minutes. I must take the earliest opportunity for a second look at those skulls on the fence, because that creature (Is this perhaps what the people are referring to when they shout so loudly, Sky Ee Roo?) looked for all the world like a model of a gigantic pterosaur.