Rae! Thank you for inviting me to your birthday party! Your house is a thousand miles from mine and I travel only for the best of reasons. A party for Rae is the best and I am eager to be with you.
I began my journey in the heart of the hummingbird you and I met long ago. He was friendly as ever, yet when I told him that little Rae was growing up and that I was going to her birthday party with a present, he was puzzled.
We flew for a long while in silence and at last he said, "I understand very little of what you say, but least of all do I understand that you are going to the party."
"Of course I am going to the party," I said. "What is so hard to understand about that?"
He was quiet, and when we arrived at the owl's home, he said, "Can miles truly separate us from friends? If you want to be with Rae, aren't you already there?"
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"Little Rae is growing up and I'm going to her birthday party with a present," I said to the owl. It felt strange to say going like that, after talking to Hummingbird, but I said it that way so Owl would understand.
He, too, flew in silence for a long time. It was a friendly silence, but as he delivered me safely to the home of the eagle, he said, "I understand very little of what you say, but least of all do I understand that you call your friend little."
"Of course she is little," I said, "because she is not grown up. What is so hard to understand about that?"
Owl looked at me with his deep amber eyes, smiled and said, "Think about that."
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"Little Rae is growing up and I am going to her birthday party with a present," I said to Eagle. It felt strange now to say going and little after talking with Hummingbird and Owl, but I said it that way so Eagle would understand. We flew together over the mountains, and soared the mountain winds.
At last she said, "I understand very little of what you say, but least of all do I understand this word birthday."
"Of course birthday," I said. "We are going to celebrate the hour that Rae began, and before which she was not. What is so hard to understand about that?"
Eagle curved her wings into steep dive-flaps and stepped to a smooth landing on the desert sand. "A time before Rae's life began? Don't you think rather that it is Rae's life that began before time ever was?"
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"Little Rae is growing up and I am going to her birthday party with a present," I said to Hawk. It felt strange to say going and little and birthday after talking with Hummingbird and Owl and Eagle, but I said it that way so Hawk would understand.
The desert poured by far below us and at last she said, "You know, I understand very little of what you say, but least of all do I understand growing up."
"Of course growing up," I said. "Rae is closer to being an adult, one more year away from being a child. What is so hard to understand about that?"
Hawk landed at last upon a lonely beach. "One more year from being a child? That does not sound like growing!" And she lifted into the air and was gone.
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Seagull, I knew, was very wise. As I flew with him I thought very carefully and chose words so that when I spoke he would know I had been learning.
"Seagull," I said at last, "why do you fly me to see Rae when you know in truth I am already with her?"
Seagull turned down over the sea, over the hills, over the streets, and landed gently upon your rooftop.
"Because the important thing," he said, "is for you to know the truth. Until you know it, until you truly understand it, you can show it only in smaller ways, and with outside help, from machines and people and birds. But remember," he said, "that not being known doesn't stop the truth from being true." And he was gone.
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Now it's time to open your present. Gifts of tin and glass wear out in a day and are gone. But I have a better …
