Haunted Wood Abbott's babbler

The babbling of river water played musically on the wood. Birds fluttered down from their lofty perches to peck at the earth, quick to retreat back into the high treetops before being seen by danger. Youth chirped from the top, pleading out to their mother for nourishment. For a time, the bird was content to drop to the earth, pry up a worm, and return to her nest with it. The bright feathers of the bird flickered up to the tree for the last time.

Siskin trotted merrily where the mother bird had been plucking food. His owlish colors were contrasting to the wood’s dismal shadows and looming trees. The gleam of his eyes, like starlight, cut through the forest and toward the sound of running water. The lean figure loped in pursuit of the riverbed.