Chapter 29

From Borneo, the flock island hopped from one small island to the next across Indonesia, and on to New Guinea, the third largest island in the world. New Guinea was another tropical paradise, but like so many tropical paradises, there were lots of things there that some birds might not like. For starters: there were snakes, lots of snakes, big and small snakes lived almost everywhere they landed. And most of these snakes loved the taste of birds. There were also a number of lizards that enjoyed a fresh bird every once in a while, and a few of Hector’s flock ended up in the bellies of some of these reptiles.

They had been in New Guinea only about a day when they were met by a gathering of hundreds of birds, maybe even thousands of birds, who had come to meet the Prophet Hector. The leader of this group was one of the Mongolian Plovers they had met in China. The plovers had flown a straighter route over longer courses of water than had Hector’s flock, and had arrived in New Guinea several days sooner than Hector and his flock. “Hello Hector,” one of the plovers said, “remember me? I’m Wing Young Fu. We met up north.”

“I remember you,” Hector said. “I thought you would be in Australia by now.”

“Some of us decided to wait around here. We figured the sandpipers would lead you this way.”

“But why did you wait?” Hector asked.

“We want to be a part of your flock,” Wing Fu replied.

“All of you?” Hector questioned, realizing that a flock this big would be very difficult to lead.

“Most of them just want to meet you,” Wing Fu replied, “but some of us want to go with you.”

“Why do they want to meet me?” Hector asked.

“Most of them have never met a prophet before. They all want to hear you speak,” Wing Fu answered. “For most birds that’s a pretty big deal.”

“I guess it would be,” Hector said realizing that there was no way he was going to convince all these birds that he wasn’t a real prophet. While he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being considered the Prophet, Hector decided the best thing he could do was speak to the masses of birds who had gathered to see him. “Tell them all to gather here tonight and I will speak to them.”

Hector spoke to the gathering of birds that night and the next, He told then the story of his friend Carlos, and how the flock had now traveled almost halfway around the world in an effort to prove the world was round. Hector told them of the dozens of different kinds of birds he had met, and of things like snow, which never falls in New Guinea. Hector told them how the members of the flock had learned to live together as a family and of all the truths he had heard his little voice speak to him, then he told them all the source of that voice, the Creator that lives in everything in the universe. The birds of New Guinea were so thrilled to hear what Hector had to say that they begged him to stay in New Guinea. “Sorry,” Hector said, not wanting to disappoint them, “I’m going to go on to Australia, but I’ll be coming back this way later.”

Early the next morning, Hector and the others were awaked by a rumbling noise in the distance. They looked to their east to see smoke and fire shooting up from the top of a mountain. “What is it?” Desiree screamed.

“I think it’s a volcano,” Hector shouted. “Tell everyone it’s time to go to Australia. And tell they to fly as fast as they can!”

Hector lead the flock southward to the Torres Strait, a small strip of ocean that lies between New Guinea and the northernmost point of the Cape York Peninsula. They wasted no time in hopping from island to island as they made their way across the strait to the infamous ‘Land Down Under’. Like Borneo and New Guinea, Australia is a land like none other in the world.

The northernmost tip of Australia is home to as many birds as is any place in the world, and for Hector and the flock that represented a potential problem. You see, the flock now numbered over one thousand birds, and one thousand birds is a lot of beaks to feed. Hector realized that a flock as large as his might not be welcome in a lot of places so he decided to call a meeting of the ‘First Nine’ to discuss the problem. “Hector,” Geronimo asked, “what’s wrong?”

“We’ve got a really big problem,” Hector said, “the flock is much too big. I fear that if we all travel together, then there may not be enough food for us and the birds that live where we are going.”

“What are we going to do about it?” Victor asked.

“We’re going to divide the flock into two groups,” Hector replied.

“How will that help?” Desiree asked.

“One group is going to follow me around the west side of Australia,” Hector explained, “while the other group follows Randy around the east side.”

“But Dude, what if I get lost?” Randy asked. “How will you ever find us?”

“You can’t get lost,” Hector said. “Australia is like one really big island. All you have to do is keep following the ocean until you get back here.”

“Really Dude?” Randy questioned, still unsure of the route.

“Really,” Hector answered, “just keep the ocean on your left side until you get back here.”

“Why don’t we just all go back to the north now?” Sidney asked.

“Because,” Hector replied, “it’s already the middle of summer in the north. By the time we get there it will be winter. We can’t fly north in the winter.”

“Why does Randy get to lead,” Octavo asked.

“Because Randy has memorized all of the chirps the voice of the Creator speaks to me,” Hector answered. “The leader will need to tell everyone what the Creator says.”

“I guess that makes Randy a prophet too,” Larry mocked.

“All of you are prophets,” Hector replied.

“We are?” Sidney asked.

“Every one of you has heard the words of the Creator just as I have heard them,” Hector continued. “It is up to all of you to take the words of the Creator to birds everywhere. Only when every bird everywhere has learned to hear the voice of the Creator will our work be done.”

“Dude,” Randy crowed, “you did it again!”

“Yeah,” Hector chirped, “I guess I did.”

“But Dude,” Randy asked, “how will I hear the words if we are traveling opposite directions?”

“Trust me,” Hector chirped, “if you listen for the voice of the Creator, then all of you will be able to hear it.”