The leaves crunched beneath his feet. The sun shone golden throughout the autumn trees. He thought back to when he was younger. His father walking him down this same trail. His nose pink and face buried in his scarf, hands warm in his father’s gloves. The father would smile at his son, mess up his hair and start one of the well loved stories he often told, “You know little buddy, this reminds me of an old story that my father told me. I think it went a little something like this…”.

The man stopped at a familiar point on the trail. Here he sat, facing the looming cliffs, closing his eyes and letting himself sink back into his childhood.

He was sitting next to his father, his eyes drooping a bit as the sun went down. His was woken up by his father nuding his shoulder, taking his hand out of his jacket pocket to point up towards the cliff, “Look buddy, you see that falcon up there, you see how he’s looking at us. I think he likes you, which means he will become your protector when you are around here. So if you’re ever alone and scared just remember you have a mighty falcon watching over you, and if anything ever happens to me I want you to seek out your falcon friend for strength. You understand?”

The man opened his eyes and looked back at the cliffs, tears swelling in his eyes. The falcon was gone.