The bamboo swamp was at first dark, with nothing but flashes of shape and color at sudden and short intervals. Some creatures poked their heads out of the gloom, and with lightning speed were gone again. There was then a small squeeeeeak! This startled three poisonous fungus birds out of their lofty beds, screeching as they swooped downward. A crow with a light on his head emerged from his hole, and began a shouted conversation with a vibrant green grass sparrow.

The glimpsed creatures of before commenced to march in unison out of the thick bamboo grove. The gloom was gradually swallowed by golden light, and all at once the whole scene was shattered by deafening sound and blinding brilliance! The creatures, all of them winged and adorned with resplendent aesthetics, seemed to explode into fireworks of color as the light boomed out of nowhere. In circles they hopped, a mass of feathery (and in some cases tentacly) bouncing movement. The end of their outburst was as sudden as its beginning. The silence just suddenly was, and the brilliance suddenly wasn't anymore, as it had been replaced by a pleasantly glowing dimness.

A hush fell, allowing the whispering melody of the bamboo grove to be heard. It carried over the swampy clearing like a mist, and settled lightly on the creatures' wings. They all stopped, turning their little heads this way and that. Then, slower than time, something began to fall from the dome of darkness over the swamp. It was at first like a falling star, and a few creatures made wishes upon it. It floated and spiraled, frailer than a whisp of windblown smoke. The luminescence surrounding it began to take form into wings. The wings drifted in swooping arcs, carried by a gust but otherwise limp. Like snow it floated down to the swamp, finally alighting on the soggy earth amongst the fascinated creatures. It appeared to be asleep, maybe even dead.

The crow was immediately pecking and croaking at the glowing thing, hopping about stiffly and frowning. He made great melodramatic flapping gestures with his wings, attempting to revive...whatever it was. He somewhat resembled a stick with a lightning bug on the end, as he had his lightbulb hat on. The other creatures tried to get a closer look at the glowing thing, as all were very curious. The crow told them to bugger off.

When the green grass sparrow saw what the crow was doing, he whacked him in the lightbulb, insulted his intelligence, and proceeded to poke the glowing thing. He greeted it loudly, observed it wasn't moving, and decided it was a fallen dove and they should steal it's wings. It obviously didn't need them anymore. Once the sparrow had the wings, the creatures trapped the dove in a net. They did this very carefully, as they had all fallen in love with the dove's beauty and did not want to hurt it. But suddenly! Just as the creatures were beginning to carry it up into the sky and to the safety of the bamboo grove, it awoke!

The dove was scared, and still very weak from the fall. It used what little magic it had to rise away from the creatures, who all watched awestruck. Still wrapped in the net, it began to twist about. It appeared like spools of silk as it curved and whirled in the air, slowly freeing itself from the netting, and finally floating back down to the swamp. In a daze, it danced with the net in it's arms, spiraling back up to the sky like something lost. It danced and danced until the magic was gone, and it was forced to fall back to the swamp for the last time. It then sunk to the ground on unsupporting legs.

From the safety of the bamboo grove, a small blue creature with feathers like ocean waves and a body like a strong undercurrent, had watched the dove. As the dove fell to the swamp, he had made his way out of the grove, limping along using his strong yet flightless wings to support himself on a pair of crutches. The blue bird was a little timid, but his fascination with the dove gave him the courage to approach. He seemed captivated by the dove's ability to fly without wings, and he gazed at it for a moment before it raised it's head and looked at him. There was fear in it's eyes, but the blue bird made it clear he wouldn't harm it. He spoke to the dove, but without words. The blue bird told the dove how the raven had broken his legs long ago. The dove was sad, for it hurt it to see the blue bird unable to fly or walk. Especially as the blue bird had been so kind to it. But it was unable to answer the blue bird, and instead slowly reached out to him. The blue bird took a step forward, but this made the dove shy away. The blue bird looked sad, and the dove would've reached out again, but then something terrible swooped out of the bamboo grove and startled the blue bird off. It was the raven, and he had stolen the dove's wings.

Then, after taking many terrifying swoops at the dove, the raven did something very odd. He thanked the dove for his wings. From beneath the swamp he summoned the canary.