The little sparrow flew out of the pine tree and fluttered upwards towards the blue, cloud-speckled sky. The warm air rushed under the sparrow's wings and rustled his feathers delightfully, cheering his sad heart considerably and gradually dissolving his depressed mood. He felt his confidence rushing back to him, just as he rushed upwards; felt his love for the world coming back to him.

The higher he flew, the happier he became until he had such a sense of euphoria that he flitted almost drunkenly across the sky, giving no care to anything whatsoever. Every worry melted away as he rushed up into a puffy cloud that drifted its relaxed course with such peacefulness that the sparrow wistfully wished that he could be a cloud.

Emerging from the cloud, the sparrow let the sun beat down on his back and wings, and inhaled deeply of the cool, crisp air that came with the higher altitudes and open skies. He closed his eyes and smiled contentedly to himself, slowing his flapping to a complete halt and letting himself glide through the air and be carried where the wind willed.

However, unbeknownst to the little sparrow, high up in the sky, far higher than he himself floated, flew a large, majestic eagle. It had watched the sparrow ever since it had flown out of the forest and into the clouds. The eagle, her eyes eagerly watching the sparrow, considered it. She hated herself for even thinking of the the small sparrow as a possible source of food, but she was hungry after having not been able to find food that day. This sparrow would be an easy catch and would help her get to her next meal.

She grudgingly swooped down towards the sparrow, coming down upon it from behind, the whole while justifying to herself the deed she was about to commit. She half wished that the bird would sight her and desperately flee for the ground, but it just continued to glide along, apparently unaware of her existence.

The eagle was only 30 yards from her prey when the young sparrow opened it's eyes and stared at her. In shock, the eagle immediately stopped flapping and could do nothing but stare in wonder at the eyes of the smaller bird. Her shock was indeed understandable, and she held herself with surprising calmness, for the eyes of the little sparrow glowed with an intense, radiant, dark blue color.

Neither rushing away as fast as it could, nor being paralyzed by fear, the sparrow merely stared back at the eagle as they flew along side each other. It fluttered slightly as they passed through an eddy, but then steadied its flight, never breaking gaze with the eagle. He simply stared back at her with his intense, blue-glowing gaze.

After a few moments of staring at each other, the eagle veered away and made her way east. She didn't know what the sparrow was with it's eyes so blue and glowing, but she knew that it's destiny would never be a meal.

In those few seconds that they had made eye contact, something had passed between the two; something special that few beings ever share or comprehend. They shared each other's existence and purpose for life. They didn't simply share it, but rather they truly understood each other for what they were, without prejudices or judgments. They understood and accepted each other as they were, not as how they had come to see each other through their life-times as hunter and prey, or how others had told them to see the other, but they understood each other as birds of the air, and coexistent beings of the earth. They understood each as individuals.

They understood each other.

The eagle hunting.

The sparrow flying.