The Brown River

Polly left the treetops and followed the great river. From the ground it had looked like a road of water. From above it was almost a moving lake. In some places it was so wide that the far bank was only a thin green line. The water was warm and brown, full of mud from far away mountains. Polly's small round glasses fogged in the heat.

Then the water broke, and a smooth pink back rolled into the air. Polly flew lower. River dolphins live in the Amazon, far from any sea, and they are a soft pink color. They rose to breathe and sank again without a sound. Their eyes are small, because in muddy water it is easier to listen than to see.

Where the river met the forest, the trees stood in the water. In the wet season the river floods the forest. Fish swim between the trunks. Some fish eat fallen fruit and carry the seeds to new places. Here the river plants trees, the way wind and birds do in other forests.

By evening the river was still and silver. Polly floated for a while on the warm water and turned slowly with the current. Far ahead, the water was moving toward a sea she could not see. She rose, shook her wings, and flew back to the trees to sleep.