That must've hurt! It seems like Pinion's just that little bit more isolated than it was before. Well, you're right: maybe the careful and considered approach might work better.

Pinion walked away somewhat shakily. The painful truth was, it had always felt different from other birds, and other birds always seemed to feel that about Pinion too. No matter what it said or did, it always seemed to be in the wrong.

Was it just fundamentally bad somehow? Surely that couldn't be!

It found a vacant spot in the grass and lay down, away from the other birds. Pinion rested its head on its back and gazed into space, and gave itself time to think.

Wherever other birds were in their various pecking orders, they always seemed to fit. Whatever a bird's place in its hierarchy, high or low, its flock-mates accepted it as such. And yet, Pinion had seen discord before. Fights for dominance or food. Dominance also meant that a bird's ideas prevailed whereas a lower-ranking bird's would not. The top bird would lead, and the rest of the flock would follow.

Was that why Pinion had such a difficult time in the flock? Was it because Langoustine disliked it? Pinion had always been vaguely aware of which birds in the other cages were the dominant ones. Could it be that the other bird species were responding to hierarchy too, and took the flamingo leader's lead in distrusting Pinion?

It was a frightening thought. And yet, something else spoke within Pinion's heart: this was about more than merely being liked. Of course Pinion wanted to be liked, but it wanted more from life too.

Power. Did it want power, to be at the top of a hierarchy? It would make sense for a young adult flamingo like itself.

Pinion frowned to itself as it tested that thought out for itself, and then shook its head. Power wasn't it. Or that wasn't quite it.

To show off its talents? No; Pinion didn't consider itself to be talented. To be an individual? That wasn't quite it either; for all its isolation, Pinion valued being part of a flock. To have influence? That hit home!

Was influence power? Well, it seemed similar, but somehow influence seemed far more like it! Encouraged by this thought, Pinion looked around for further inspiration. Who was influential, and how did they do it?

Crows lingered around the cage, eating and chatting with one another just as they always did, their black plumage as striking as ever. Their social structure had always seemed loose and non-committal to Pinion, but they were well-respected by the caged birds as sources of information, and well-liked for their entertaining storytelling about the world beyond this world of cages.

Respect. That seemed important. Pinion let that thought settle at the back of its mind and kept on thinking.

What about the storks, it wondered? Pinion had never been able to tell which of the storks was the leader and as far as it could tell, they disdained authority, whether from each other or from the keepers.

And they were strong! Did strength equal the ability to influence their own destinies? None of the storks had a leader, so was that simply a cage of leaders with no followers? If so, what did that mean? Pinion tucked that question away in the same place as its curiosity about the crows.

That left the flamingos' other neighbours: the parakeets. They were the most socially complex of all the birds. It wasn't that their hierarchy was strict. Indeed, Pinion was convinced it wasn't. But it was complex and active, and respect seemed something that could have been earned by any member of the flock. How did a parakeet go about becoming influential within its flock?

With its head full of so many questions, Pinion decided to get some answers.

Hey, now this feels more optimistic! What do you want Pinion to do now?