Seagull Solidarity.

It was a beautiful winter's day, cold but sunny with a clear blue sky. A day when it felt good to be alive, and Gerda having been to the Post Office was on her way back to the school where she worked. Her route took her past the big church in the centre of the town. Above her a flock of gulls filled the air with their strange cries. She took little notice of them, their presence was not unusual as the town was a seaside resort and the sea was a mere two streets away. She did notice however that they seemed to be circling above the church, also that their cries were getting louder and seemed filled with distress. As she turned towards the church she saw what was causing their anguish. A large gull was hanging in space, its wing tip caught by something on the edge of the roof. It struggled to free itself but all its efforts were in vain. Gerda's imagination provided the end of the story, if nothing was done to free the bird. As she took out her mobile phone to ring the fire brigade for help, she saw a large gull alight on the pinnacle of the roof look at its unfortunate pal and start to slide down the roof towards it. Gerda paused in her phone call and watched. What happened next was almost beyond belief. The second gull having reached its pal started tapping with its beak all around the the trapped wing tip. The taps became louder and harder. The trapped bird stopped struggling, staying as still as it could. Suddenly the tapping stopped, the wing tip freed and both birds took flight to rejoin the flock still hovering above the roof, and who had never ceased to utter cries of encouragement. Gerda let out a huge sigh of relief, pocketed her mobile phone and went back to work.