Kuondoka Bondeni

Tomas alikuwa kazini tena. Alimkuta Polly kwenye kibanda cha kituo cha wageni muda mfupi baada ya alfajiri. Alikuwa na Thermos mpya ya kahawa. Aliiweka kwenye benchi na kuketi.

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.

Hawakusema mengi kwa muda. Polly alijipamba manyoya yake. Asubuhi ilinukia mto.

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

"Nadhani unajiandaa kuondoka," Tomas alisema.

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

Polly alitikisa kichwa chake.

Polly tilted her head.

Alimwambia kuhusu sehemu nyingine za mbuga. Nchi ya juu ya Tioga Road. Hetch Hetchy, bonde lingine kaskazini, limezuiliwa muda mrefu lakini bado ni zuri. Msitu wa miti mikubwa huko Tuolumne Meadows. Alizungumza kuhusu maeneo haya kwa fahari ya kimya.

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.

"Mahali hapa hakikuonyeshi kila kitu, hata kama unaishi hapa," alisema. "Unapata vipande. Watu huja kwa siku tatu na kufikiri wameona yote. Wameona kadi ya posta tu." Alikunywa kahawa yake. "Ni bora kuona kipande kimoja hadi mwisho. Peregrines? Miaka kumi na nne na bado sijui watafanya nini kesho."

"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 alifikiria kuhusu kuruka kwake kutoka kwenye mwamba wa El Capitan. Hakuwahi kutua vizuri hata mara moja. Lakini alikuwa anazidi kuwa bora kila mara. Alifikiri angeweza kuendelea kuboresha maisha yake yote.

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.

Basi la kusafirisha lilifika. Basi lile lile la kijani. Dereva yule yule. "Enda zako," Tomas alisema. Alisimama.

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

Polly alinyosha mabawa yake ya buluu-kijani kibichi. Aliondoka kwenye benchi, akazunguka mara moja juu ya kituo cha wageni, na kupaa. Bonde lilishuka. El Capitan lilikuwa upande wa kushoto. Half Dome upande wa kulia.

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.

Kwenye ukingo, alielekea magharibi. Chini yake, peregrine alikuwa akiwinda kundi dogo la swifts kando ya uso wa mwamba. Alilitazama kwa nusu dakika. Kisha akapata upepo alioutaka na kuacha umchukue nje ya mbuga.

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.