“I walked along the lake and surveyed the multicolored houses, the French balconies blooming with flowers and ivy. The light changed. I turned to the lake and looked to the sky, now unable to distinguish what was thundercloud and what was mountain. It was the most beautiful place I possibly could have imagined.”

There’s a desperation in Maggie’s eyes, and in her unhesitating violence.  Could there be more going on than just some action that instinct drew out of her?  Could there be frustration?  Anger?  I’m reminded of how doctors used to slap human babies to help introduce them to breathing outside of their mothers.  Something we learned from the animals?

“I want to tell her that cowbirds aren’t even from Texas. That they just ended up there in search of food. In search of something better.”

The soldiers stand in rows, one behind the other. Their parachutes are connected to a metal bar and when they jump out of the plane, the parachute is automatically triggered. They jump from only 1500 feet so the landings are fast and hard. They spend most of their training learning how to fall.