Beyond Evolution

Shelby was starting to get used to this whole Xavier’s thing. So far the place seemed pretty awesome and definitely fun, but it certainly had its own brand of crazy. She was starting to think that maybe it was just a part of the mutant thing. Not having been around any other mutants before, that one was hard for her to figure out. Or maybe it was a part of the teacher thing, since so far it seemed to her that the faculty and staff were the ones most prone to instability and general asshat behavior. Maybe it was some kind of coping mechanism for having to teach at the mutant version of Hogwarts? Who knew? In any event, it didn’t entirely strike her as being that big of a deal, and it was all stuff that Shelby tried not to dwell on too much. And with work, along with things like holiday celebrations and yes week, it wasn’t very hard to keep that stuff off her mind.

Today none of those things were on the roster, and the day was nice and clear, so Shelby gathered a few items in a tote bag and ventured out onto the grounds. Once she found a tree that was both suitable and climbable, she scaled her way up and found a nice spot that could support her weight and wasn’t too uncomfortable to stay in for a while. She was assuming the birds here wouldn’t really be different from the ones in the park she frequented at home. After all, it wasn’t like she was all that far away from it. Still, it would be worth it to see what she could see. But firstly, hear what she could hear. Leaning back, Shelby rested her head against the rough trunk of the tree and closed her eyes. Now that she was still and quiet it didn’t take long for the birdcalls to meet her ears. Each one was acknowledged and noted before focusing on another- eastern bluebird, purple martin, ruby throated hummingbird, red headed woodpecker- nothing out of the ordinary, really. And the sounds were close enough she should be able to get a good luck at some of them. Not that Shelby doubted her ability to identify, but she always wanted to get a good look at whatever she was hearing whenever possible. After all, that was kind of the whole point of bird watching. Pulling a very nice pair of binoculars out of her bag, Shelby shifted around some to get into a good position for spotting anything. And oh so gracefully knocked her bag to the ground in the process. The binoculars she held fast to, her fingers automatically curling tight around the strap as she groaned and mumbled at her own klutziness the second she felt anything slipping. The binoculars were expensive enough that she would not be too happy about having to replace them. The miscellany in her bag, including her birding journal, was obviously not considered as valuable. Everything inside should be ok if it hit the ground, and thankfully her cell phone was in the pocket of her jeans so that wasn’t a worry either. The only thing in there she remotely worried about was the sandwich she’d packed for lunch, which probably had would be meeting a very flat end very soon. Smooshed sandwiches 4tl.

[Julian]