Odlazak iz Doline

Tomas je opet bio na dužnosti. Pronašao je Polly kod kioska u centru za posjetitelje netom nakon izlaska sunca. Imao je svježi termos s kavom. Spustio ga je na klupu i sjeo.

Tomas was on duty again. He found Polly at the visitor centre kiosk just after sunrise. He had a fresh Thermos of coffee. He set it on a bench and sat down.

Neko vrijeme nisu puno govorili. Polly je dotjerivala svoja perja. Jutro je mirisalo na rijeku.

They did not say much for a while. Polly preened her feathers. The morning smelled of the river.

"Pretpostavljam da se spremaš krenuti dalje," rekao je Tomas.

"I imagine you're moving on," Tomas said.

Polly je nagnula glavu.

Polly tilted her head.

Ispričao joj je o ostatku parka. Visoka područja uz Tioga Road. Hetch Hetchy, druga dolina na sjeveru, davno pregrađena, ali još uvijek prekrasna. Šuma sekvoja u Tuolumne Meadows. Govorio je o tim mjestima s tihim ponosom.

He told her about the rest of the park. The high country off Tioga Road. Hetch Hetchy, the other valley to the north, dammed long ago but still beautiful. The grove of redwoods up in Tuolumne Meadows. He spoke of these places with quiet pride.

"Ovo mjesto ti ne pokazuje sve, čak i ako ovdje živiš," rekao je. "Uhvatite dijelove. Ljudi dolaze na tri dana i misle da su sve vidjeli. Vidjeli su razglednicu." Otpijao je kavu. "Bolje je vidjeti jedan dio do kraja. Sokolovi? Četrnaest godina i još uvijek ne znam što će sutra učiniti."

"This place doesn't show you everything, even if you live here," he said. "You catch pieces. People come for three days and think they saw it. They saw a postcard." He sipped his coffee. "Better to see one piece all the way through. The peregrines? Fourteen years and I still don't know what they're going to do tomorrow."

Polly je razmišljala o svojim zaronima s ruba El Capitana. Nije jednom sletjela čisto. Također je svaki put bila manje loša. Mislila je da bi mogla postajati manje loša cijeli život.

Polly thought about her dives off the El Capitan ledge. She had not landed cleanly once. She had also gotten less bad each time. She thought she could keep getting less bad for a lifetime.

Stigao je shuttle autobus. Isti zeleni autobus. Isti vozač. "Kreni," rekao je Tomas. Ustao je.

A shuttle bus pulled in. The same green bus. The same driver. "Off you go," Tomas said. He stood up.

Polly je rastegnula svoja plavo-zelenkasta krila. Poletjela je s klupe, jednom kružila iznad centra za posjetitelje i uzletjela. Dolina je nestajala ispod nje. El Capitan je stajao s lijeve strane. Half Dome s desne.

Polly stretched her blue-teal wings. She lifted off from the bench, circled once over the visitor centre, and climbed. The valley dropped away. El Capitan stood on the left. Half Dome on the right.

Na rubu je skrenula prema zapadu. Ispod nje, sokol je lovio malo jato čiope uz stijenu. Promatrala ga je pola minute. Zatim je pronašla vjetar koji je željela i pustila ga da je odnese iz parka.

At the rim, she banked west. Below her, a peregrine was hunting a small flock of swifts along the cliff face. She watched it for half a minute. Then she found the wind she wanted and let it carry her out of the park.