Fly away, birdie

"Why the frown, little sister?"

Nina looked up from the book she was poring over. "I don't understand this," she replied.

"Well, tell your big brother, he'll explain," Humphrey urged.

"Okay, I'll tell you. See this. It says the mother bird forces the baby bird to fly whether it feels safe or not."

"Yup. Those Mommy birds are sure strict. When they decide it's time for an empty nest, whoosh, out the babies go, ready or not."

"But that's mean."

"It isn't mean, sis, it's life. You reach a certain age, you gotta fend for yourself."

"But those poor babies, all tiny and the big sky and all the big birds waiting to catch them. It's horrible."

"It is, rather, isn't it?"

Nina suddenly looked at Humphrey. He had entered her room without knocking. True, the door had been open, so there was nothing to knock for, but still, he never did that. In fact, he hardly entered her room at all. It was an unspoken agreement between them. It was actually one of the reasons they got along so well -- they didn't meddle with each other's stuff.

"Why are you here?" she blurted.

"Gotta tell you something. Wanted to do it in private, without Mom and Dad around."

"What? What's this big secret?"

"They're sending me to boarding school. They've decided I'm old enough to go. I leave next week."