Fly

If I had to choose to a non-human life form on earth, what would I want to be?

I would probably be a bird. The gift of flight is the overwhelming draw. The ability to fly up and away for safety as well as flying to hunt for food is all birds have ever known. But from a human perspective, it would be exhilarating.

Of course, even birds don't fly all the time. Many leave the sky and alight in trees, on the ground or on buildings, where they nest, perform other tasks or simply rest. Nevertheless, they can cover territory usually far faster than humans.

We may have conquered flight in ways no bird ever can, with our planes, missiles and spacecraft, but we will never be able to flap our arms and take off unaided.

However, I would want to live in nature and not in the city, where it is too easy to become a scavenger of human waste products.

I'm sure birds, if they could communicate with us in our language, would say that their lives have constant challenges, too. But somehow, I don't think that if they had the chance they would choose to be born a human.

For we are the problem on planet earth, not them.