[h2]The Klootatneks were driven from their habitat by Lake Puktnetof. The forest's natural vegetation was forcibly replaced with an expansive golf course, designed by award-winning landscapers and marketed by the last three world champions of the sport. In vain, the persistent silver-plumed birds rebuilt their nests in the pines planted by landscapers, but the branches couldn’t support the heavy bodies of the Klootatneks. The birds had nested in the walnut trees that the lake’s natural ecosystem had provided. However, the landscapers decided that planting pines would make the golf park's design and square metre yield more sustainable. The golfers, frustrated by the difficulty of the twelfth hole, often struck the pines with their wayward shots, further weakening the birds’ chances of survival in their new habitat.[/h2] [h2] [/h2] [h2]The initiative began with Iruknat on a cloudy night. His nest had fallen, with tragic consequences for his family. His piercing squawk echoed persistently for three days and two nights across the golf course, disturbing the instincts of the weakened flock. On the fourth night, the Klootatneks began a mass mating ritual, three months ahead of their annual reproductive cycle. Soon, all the females carried the next generation within their broad bodies. Meanwhile, the males, led by Iruknat, consumed every walnut seed they could find. This continued for two full moons.[/h2] [h2] [/h2] [h2]The foundational rock lay at the deepest part of Lake Puktnetof. Its horizontal cylindrical shape timidly protruded above the lake's calm surface. The ancient Chipumayee tribe explained its origin through the legend of the Fallen Cosmic Spirit, who died mid-act with the Lake Goddess, losing his rocky phallus and simultaneously giving life to the valley and its surroundings. Geologist Pictarus, in the summer of 1732, after three years of scientific research, wrote in the [i]Encyclopaedia Britannica[/i] that the rock’s origin was volcanic. For tourists, property investors, and golfers in the area, the Chipumayee theory was far more appealing than Pictarus’s. For Iruknat, the rock’s origin didn’t matter, but its destiny was unavoidable.[/h2] [h2] [/h2] [h2]A new dawn pushed away the clouds, leaving the lake’s surface with a tense silver reflection. With his stomach overloaded with walnut seeds, Iruknat dramatically flexed his wings, their slow and steady beat carrying him dangerously close to the relentless Sun of the first spring day. As his weary joints began to fail, he embraced himself with his silver wings, forming his body into an aerodynamic projectile surrendered to gravity. His carefully planned trajectory guided the avian missile to the centre of the foundational stone. The force of the impact shattered and rearranged Iruknat’s muscles and bones, merging them with the walnut seeds.[/h2] [h2] [/h2] [h2]One by one, in succession, the Klootatneks repeated the manoeuvre, completely covering the foundational rock with shattered muscles, broken bones, and seeds. After three moons, the Klootatnek males were no more than an organic blanket enveloping the rock.[/h2] [h2]The females of the flock observed the bloody scene of martyrdom in respectful silence. When the sacrifice was complete, they sang a mournful dirge, lasting only a few hours.[/h2] [h2] [/h2] [h2]That night it rained; the next day, the Sun emerged. The walnut seeds, mingled with the remains of the martyrs, responded to the weather, and life found its way between bones and feathers. The most colourful buds of creation proudly sprouted from the new surface of the foundational rock. The females flew to the newly formed Klootatnek territory and rebuilt their nests within the unprecedented vegetation. The walnut trees grew with a strange mutation, their fruits turning silver like aluminium.[/h2] [h2] [/h2] [h2]The proud females gave birth to a new generation of Klootatneks and passed away in peace, ensuring their offspring reproduced twice. This cycle repeated for 3,487 generations, safely protected in the habitat of the foundational rock, until a new ice age blanketed the planet. All life that had flourished turned into fossilised material buried beneath layers of ice and dry earth. In one small spot on the planet, beneath a slow-moving glacier, lies a peculiar rock covered in fossils.[/h2] [h2] [/h2] [h2]These fossils protect within them silver walnut seeds, patiently awaiting a ray of sunlight.[/h2]
