There were once two eagles who lived high, high in the mountains beyond this city. These two eagles were big--so big. And, they were strong. They had to be strong, because the wind was so strong there.

One of the two eagles had been alive for a long, long time, and he had lived all alone for a long time, too. His nest was not very big. But it was big enough for him. It was way, way up on the wall of a cliff, and from it he could look out and see the whole world. Especially he could see the sky turning gold when the sun went down at the end of the day.

Of course, he could see the sky the rest of the time, too. And since he was an eagle, that was kind of like if a person had a park right outside their room where they could go whenever they wanted.

Did you know there are rivers in the sky? Way high... And you know what? Eagles love to find those rivers. They play in them. Even the big grown-up eagles do. I know, because I've watched them.

For a long time there were no other eagles living anywhere near. The rivers here were very high and wild. Not even the other eagles liked to come here. It was a hard place to fly--some said it was dangerous. Sometimes he watched other birds flying close to the ground, far beneath these rivers that he loved to ride. But he knew the little birds couldn't fly up here. They weren't made for it. Sometimes he was lonely, but then he would fly, and the sky and its rivers would hold him.

But one day, he looked out and there was another eagle, circling and gliding and even flipping upside down for a moment before she turned and flew away.

And suddenly, he wanted so much to be flying with her. But she was young, and beautiful, and her home was somewhere else--so he watched her go, and didn't fly after her.

But the next day she was back, and again the day after that. And on the third day, he was so full of the feel of flying together, that before he knew it he was in the air, calling and rising up and up, until he joined her.

They flew together for hours. It seemed as though they could fly forever, but even eagles must rest sometimes, and at last they grew tired.

He led her back to his nest. And there they sat, together, so close. They had to sit close becase, you remember, the nest was very small. Together they watched the sun go down and the sky turn gold. As it grew dark the stars came out like fireflies do until the sky was thick with sparkles. And the eagles slept.

Some time later if you looked in that nest, you would have seen three eagles, not two. And by now that nest was geting crowded. Now when the little eagle first hatched she was a tiny eagle, and then there had been just barely enough room. And the baby eagle loved it when, at the end of the day, the two big eagles settled in, one on each side of her, and went to sleep. It was the best, most wonderful, safest, warmest feeling in the whole world. But you know baby eagles don't stay baby eagles. That baby eagle got bigger, and by now that nest was getting crowded. And the ledge was too small to make it bigger.

And because it was so crowded, a sad thing happened. The two big eagles started fighting. It's not the way it should have been, but it was the way it was. Perhaps if the two big eagles had still been flying together they wouldn't have fought when they were in the nest. But they didn't fly together any more, because one of them always stayed with the little one. So they were grumpy, and they screamed. It made the little one feel so bad. She felt like getting bigger was a bad thing, and she thought the fighting was all her fault, and for a while when they brought her delicious things to eat she said she wasn't hungry because she thought if she didn't eat she wouldn't get bigger. But that didn't work too well. Little eagles are supposed to eat and get bigger, and her tummy told her so. So she ate, and she kept growing.

Sometimes the two big eagles would still try to be in the nest together, because they loved being close. But there just wasn't room now. One or the other of them now had to spend the night alone, sitting on the ledge above the nest, all huddled up trying to stay warm. And the little eagle felt so lonesome on the side where the big eagle wasn't. And cold.

Finally, one day when the big ones had just been fighting again, she got so sad she couldn't stand it any more, and she said, "It's not fair! When you two are fighting, and I'm so cold, this is not a good nesty place any more. Please, can you make it be a good nest?

When the two big eagles heard that, they knew things had to change. It was hard to think of leaving this nest that they loved, but it was too small, and they wanted the little eagle to be okay. They said to the little one, "We'll find a bigger nest. We should have done it before, but we were so happy here that we didn't want to go. We're sorry."

The little eagle didn't think she wanted a different nest either, and she said, "But I like this nest. I don't want to go away!" But her mother was a smart eagle, and she said, "we'll look until we find a nest you will love. And then we'll take you, and show you. And if you tell us it would be a sad nest for you, we'll keep looking. Okay?"

The little eagle still felt worried, because she couldn't fly, like the big ones. She didn't know how she would get to any other nest. But she knew they wanted it to be okay again, so she just waited to see what would happen.

And that began a long time of looking. The cliffs there were sheer, and the ledges small. Again and again one or the other of them would spot a place that might work--and again and again, it just wouldn't. They began to think that this little nest was the best they could do, but they hated to give up, because they wanted so much for it to be okay again for the little eagle.

But one day, a big storm wind came out of nowhere while the mother eagle was out flying. The wind caught her, and even as strong as she was the wind was stronger. She was afraid. But she didn't need to be. The wind took her to a new place where she'd never been before. And in that place, there it was--a big a wonderful nest.

The storm ended, and the wind died down, and she glided down into the nest. She was so tired after flying through the storm, and the nest felt so good around her. So she stayed, and she called and called till he heard her, and came.

And when he saw the nest, he got so happy. They sat together for just a little, and then flew back together to get the little one and show her. By now, she was flying a little bit. And she tried to fly with them to the new nest--but she couldn't. It was too high, and too far. She began to fall. When he saw, he dove beneath her, and she landed on one of his wings. She held on tight, and again he climbed into the sky. They had to go very slow. He was afraid he wouldn't make it, it was so hard--but he did. And then they landed, and all three of them nestled together with the little eagle in the middle. And it felt so good to her to have them back on each side of her. And then she knew that that was what made a nest her nesty place, even if it was a new nest.

And as they sat together, the sun went down, and the sky became gold, and it touched the nest so it was gold, too.

And in the morning when they woke, he was so happy that he took off into the air and flew upside down. And then the little eagle giggled; and then she knew that it was really all okay.