text: The view was breathtaking. Katja held on gently to Max, one of her closest friends. She saw that he was preparing. With his beak in the wind, he felt where the wind would take him. In the distance he looked for a place to land safely. Katja felt a twinge of jealousy. Max was convinced that one day he would learn to fly. Katja did not have that hope. Shortly after this moment it started. The disappearances. First, Max disappeared. It had been a beautiful night because of the full moon and Katja had not been able to sleep well. Every twig poked through her feathers. The next day, tired, she went looking for Max. There was no response to her calls. No one in the village knew where Max could be. Nobody worried, as if they knew where he was. "Do not worry." Was the only message they gave her. Katja had persuaded Pim to search the ruins together. Max had already disappeared for a few weeks, but the new full moon would have allowed them to search extra long tonight. Maybe all night long. They searched behind walls, in hollows and on all remaining roofs. There was no trace anywhere. In the end Katja agreed with Pim and they decided to go back to their nest. Katja led the way, humming to keep herself awake. For the outsider a light chirp. As a result, it took longer for her to realize that there was no sound behind her. "Good night, Pim!" Katja walked towards her parents' nest and sat between them. In the morning Katja was awakened by loud voices. She looked up carefully and saw that her parents were busy talking. "She's awake!" Pim's father came up to her. "Where is he? You searched together last night, right? Where were you?" His beady eyes seemed to want to see through Katja. Like X-rays. Her father intervened. "Calm down, Sjaak." He turned to Katja. "When did you last see Pim?" He asked her quietly. "Last night, just before I got home." She responded in a small voice. "How so?" "And where?" "At the ruins." She tilted her head as she watched them. "The ruins?" Her father suddenly seemed relieved. He patted his back. Sjaak looked a lot happier. To her surprise, no one cared about the disappearances. Katja did not understand. "What's with that ruin?" Her father looked at Katja. He doubted whether to answer. "That's the last place Max was seen." He paused. "You will learn when it's your time, I promise." A huge shadow moved across the forest over them. "Whoo-hoooo!" Katja and her father looked up. In the distance they saw Max skimming through the air, Pim flew after him at full speed. They laughed and spun around treetops before flying back towards the mountain. Towards the ruin. Katja began to understand and ran up the mountain. She, like Max and Pim, would make sure she would be next. The next to learn to fly.