A Crocodile's Journey

Chapter 12

Given his underdeveloped wings, Kitwana could not take part in the flight lessons anymore, but instead Bakshi made him do certain mild exercises to strengthen up his muscles. Still, no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't open his wings as much as he wanted. Meanwhile, Mshale and Dalila had advanced pretty much in their flight classes, and they learned how to glide in the fifth day.

Mshale's picking was finally starting to drive him to his breaking point, despite his attempts at not snapping and 'behaving himself'.

When the Dege Kwanza finally arrived, the whole flock gathered at the base of the old tree to witness the fledglings' first flight... all but Kitwana. Instead he stayed in the water and among the reeds, hiding out of shame, and watching from afar. Now that no one was watching, he floated in the water like a crocodile in an attempt to calm himself.

The ceremony was rather simple. One by one, the fledglings would jump off the highest branch of the tree, spread out their wings to glide, then fly upwards in a circle, and finally land on their feet perfectly.

This year, only six fledglings made it to this stage of the lesson, Mshale and Dalila among them.

The first two did as expected, but at the landing part they tripped and fell to the ground with a thud. The third fledgling had to be pushed off the branch because she was too afraid to do so herself, and her wings opened in the last moment, but she managed to land on her feet. The fourth flapped his wings too hard and got himself tired rather quickly, which resulted in him landing before time.

Dalila and Mshale, however, were the best flyers. Dalila jumped off the branch, opened her wings at the right moment, and gracefully circled in the air before landing impeccably, which resulted in lots of praise. Mshale's first flight, however, was daring, fast and impeccable, and by the time he landed the whole flock applauded by stamping one talon on the ground, with many even whispering he might even get to become leader of the flock someday.

Kitwana felt very jealous of the attention Mshale was receiving, and walked in the opposite direction, towards the edge of the lake, muttering under his breath, and mentally cursing his stupid, underdeveloped wings.

He glanced at the direction of Lake Matope, wondering how Hodari and Akina were doing. Did they miss him? Makuu probably didn't, if he hadn't even showed around the waterhole to say hello. Now it turned out that because of him, he was flightless; he couldn't blame him completely, however, he hadn't known his wings needed such crucial development. He was a crocodile, after all.

He was about to turn back when suddenly, Dalila landed a few feet away from him. "Kitwana, where were you?" she asked, concerned. "I didn't see you among the others."

"I don't think they wanted me near them. Besides, Mshale would have probably started mocking at me again." Kitwana responded, though he did smile a little. "But I did see you fly. You were amazing!"

"Thanks!" she said, blushing. "It felt so... Amazing! It was like I was floating! I hope you get to fly soon too so we can go flying together."

"Like that would happen!"

Kitwana sighed in exasperation when Mshale landed a few steps away with a smug look on his face. Dalila frowned at the newcomer. "What do you want, Mshale?" she asked coldly.

"Well, the others wondered where you'd wandered off to, and turns out you came to talk to the flightless crocobird." Mshale said, snickering. "Did you see me fly, crocobird? Bakshi said I was the best flyer!"

"Well, congratulations." Kitwana simply said with a neutral expression.

"What, aren't you happy for us?" Mshale started leaning forward in an intimidating way. "Or are you envious that I got to fly while you'll be stuck on the ground forever, like your 'crocodile' dad?"