Cap, the Gull
Illustrations Coming Soon
Every morning is the same. Cap, the gull, never feels like starting a new day. He doesn’t sleep well and getting up is a struggle. He certainly can’t sleep among the colony in their ground nestings. All night long he listens to the surf from his roost in the eaves of the seaside balcony.
At sunup, other birds start squawking and foraging. Cap would rather roost, but he can’t. No one will bring him breakfast in nest. So, as duty calls, he spreads his wings and goes out.
First stop is the park where a couple dozen other gulls are gathered. Seagulls are very sneaky. They get together, stamp their feet to imitate rainfall, and the earthworms come right up to be breakfast.
For the other birds, it is a joyous and bountiful dance with friends. For Cap, it is maddening when some wingnut snaps up a worm that Cap had his eye on. The other birds have fun cackling and screeching to each other. It’s hard for Cap to understand what all the noise is about.
A daily routine involves teaching the young gulls. Cap has been teaching acrobatics for many years, like hovering spread-wing over bridges. He rides the waves of heat rising from the pavement and barely has to beat his wings. He loves to fly, but teaching makes him grouchy. The youngsters aren’t serious about their lessons, they think it’s time to play.
For lunch, Cap goes to the beach for some mollusks. First he finds one, then drops it hard onto the rocks until it breaks open. Crack. Snap. Slurp. Just don’t disturb him while he’s eating. He’s likely to bark your head off.
Midday, Cap hangs out at the pier with others from his colony. Fishermen often clean their catch and leave the scraps behind. Makes good snackin’. When neighboring colonies try to move in, Cap and his mates defend their territory by attacking and harassing them. Cap thinks, “Who do they think they are, intruding on our spot? Just beat it!” Just about ruins his day.
Things pick up when he spots a nice whale close to shore. He lands right on the whale when it surfaces and harvests some good bits before the whale submerges again. Back on shore he sees a large swarm of sand flies. Quickly he lowers his head, opens his beak, and runs through the swarm, catching a full dinner from midair. Cap feels much better after he eats.
He takes his full belly up to the eaves and hangs on with his claws as the evening wind blows strong. Just as he’s getting comfortable, he notices something strange happening inside. The people are sitting around watching flat pictures on the wall. These are moving pictures of exotic places.
Cap adjusts his perch so that he can get a better look. Lands of green, blue water bodies, fantastic blooming plants, strange animals, and white clouds. Not at all like his LA home. He watches through the glass and wonders. He watches wide-eyed until the pictures stop. He wonders and imagines himself visiting such wonder worlds. Before he knows it, he’s fast asleep, dreaming.
When he wakes in the morning, he feels better than he’s felt in ages. He even looks forward to meeting up with the colony so that he can tell them of his discovery. His playful students make him chuckle because they remind him of his youth, when all the world seems ahead of him. Best of all, he can’t wait for sundown to see the moving pictures again.