Lark and the Hawk

7-9 min read
19 pages
7+

Lark is a little sparrow. When a big hawk shows up near the forest and circles above it, all the animals get scared and hide. With good advice from his owl friend Siena, Lark comes up with a brave idea, and he wins not by being strong, but by being clever and working together with his friends.

Lark was a little sparrow—small, but kind and brave. And he wanted to know everything. What was under that leaf? Who lived in that hole? Lark peeked, and looked, and listened.

Lark had a friend named Siena, a gentle owl. She knew all the secrets of the old forest—where the sweetest berries grew, and why the tall trees creaked. She loved telling Lark about them.

One clear morning, scary news went from nest to nest: a hawk had come! There he was, near the edge of the forest, big and sharp-eyed. Nobody wanted to meet him. The rabbits ducked into their burrows. The ants hurried into their hill. Soon the forest was quiet and empty.

Lark peeked out of his nest. His friends were scared. His family was scared. Lark wanted to help them. So that very morning, he flew straight to the tall oak where Siena lived.

Lark landed on a branch next to Siena. His feathers were all puffed up. “Siena, everybody’s scared of the hawk!” he said. “What do we do?”

Siena slowly opened her big round eyes. “When you’re scared, you can hide,” she said softly. “Or you can think of something. Even the smallest bird can find a way, if he’s clever and brave.” Lark sat very still. He was thinking.

And Lark had an idea! He flew to every hiding place and called his friends out. He told them what they would do. At first, they just looked at each other. But then, one by one, they nodded.

The next day, the hawk circled high over the forest. Lark’s heart went thump, thump. But up he flew, straight toward the hawk.

“Why do you keep scaring everybody?” Lark called. “You fly over our forest, and everybody hides!” The hawk narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Because I’m the strongest around here, little guy,” he said slowly. “I do whatever I want.” Lark’s feathers fluttered. But he didn’t fly away. “If you’re strong, you should take care of the little ones,” he said. “Not scare them.”

Lark spread his little wings wide. “Let’s have a contest,” he said. “If you win, you can stay. If I win, you fly away—and never come back.”

The hawk shook his feathers, as if he didn’t care one bit. He looked Lark up and down. “A contest?” he drawled. “Ooh, I love contests. All right, little guy. If I lose, I’ll fly away. But I never lose.”

Lark led the hawk to a big, wide meadow. His friends were there, waiting for Lark. They whispered and peeked at the hawk. They were scared. But they were hoping, too.

Lark turned to the hawk. “My friends and I will gather food together,” he said loudly. “You’ll gather food, too. When the sun reaches that tall pine, whoever has the bigger pile wins!”

The hawk laughed. “All of you against me? Ha!” He was sure he was the fastest and the strongest. Whoosh! Up he shot into the sky. Then down he swooped and grabbed a big load of food in his claws. Then another. And another!

Down in the meadow, everybody got to work. The ants carried tiny seeds. The rabbits hopped over with berries. The turtles brought grain, slow and steady. Lark flew back and forth, back and forth.

At last, the sun reached the tall pine. The hawk had a big pile of food. But the little animals had a pile that was even bigger! The friends cheered and jumped. The hawk stared. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

The hawk let out a long sigh. “I thought you were weak, little guy,” he said to Lark. “But you and your friends beat me. So I’ll fly away, just like I said.”

Everybody hugged Lark and thanked him for being so brave. High in the sky, the hawk flew far, far away. He never came back. Soon the animals came out to play again, and nobody was scared.

The forest was peaceful again. Lark sat in the grass with his friends—the ants, the rabbits, and the slow, steady turtles. Each of them was small. But together, they had done something very big.

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