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The little bird walked along the branch of the tree it called home.
It saw bigger birds on other branches and in other trees, but it didn't worry about them too much. It was happy on its own little branch. A few ants wandered up every day and the odd fly landed nearby, so it wasn't starving.
Every now and again it saw a bigger bird swoop through the air to go somewhere mysterious. It didn't think it could ever do that - even looking down from its little branch was scary.
Anyway, what would be the point - it had everything it needed right here on this branch.
Time passed. Lots of ants and flies visited and got eaten. The little bird had tried talking to them, but they never answered.
One day the little bird noticed two things. Its little branch was starting to bend rather worryingly and by the end of the day it was feeling hungrier and hungrier. Somehow there were never enough ants and flies to fill it up any more.
Then one day it rained.
The beads of water hung on the little branch and clung to the bird. The branch bent even more ... until ... crack! It snapped.
The bird found itself falling through the air.
By reflex, it opened its wings. At first the air filled its feathers and the bird started to glide. Then it twitched muscles that it hadn't known it had and instead of falling, it found itself soaring.
A dragonfly was hovering nearby and without even thinking the bird snapped its beak and enjoyed a new and tasty snack.
Oh wow! The bird thought, why haven't I done this before? It landed on another branch but there was nothing there, so it jumped off again and soared to the top of the tree.
A big bird landed on a leafy branch beside it. The rain had stopped and the sunshine was bright and warm.
'So you finally made it - we were getting worried about you,' said the big bird.
'What do you mean?'
'Some birds never reach the top of the tree. They're too scared to leave their perch down below. We try to show them, by flying past every now and again, but they don't always get the message.'
'But it is so beautiful up here - why didn't you just tell me?'
'Would you have believed me,' replied the big bird, 'it doesn't matter whether you get here by choice or accident, the only important thing is that you found the way on your own.' With that, he opened his big wings and flew away.
The bird looked down through the tree. He could see lots of little branches from here, and lots of little birds pecking at ants and flies. He hoped he'd meet them up here on top of the tree someday, but for now, mysterious places beckoned.
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