Mallangong

It is said that our people have journeyed on this earthship for 50 million years

We are not a large people

We weigh two or three pounds and measure only about 20 inches from the tips of our wide flat tails to the ends of our rubbery bills

We wear coats of fine red-brown fur and there is yellow fur around our eyes which can look to the right or left or to the sky, but never straight ahead

Perhaps this is why we often lose our way when we travel from the tropical streams or cold mountain lakes in which we swim and dig for shrimp and worms

Our feet are wept and we are excellent swimmers

Our females lay eggs, two at a time, and they hold and cuddle the eggs against their fur until our children hatch

Then, before the children can gather their own food, they lick milk which flows from tiny pores in the mother's body onto her fur

Strange ones are children, inside their bills they have teeth which fall out as they grow

We defend ourselves from attackers with poison which we secrete through spurs on our webbed feet

Our rear hips have ball and socket joints which help us maneuver quickly in unusual positions

Mankind has destroyed many of us, just as it has destroyed many passengers on this ship

But I think we will survive

I think the wind and trees and tall grasses are whispering old knowledge to new ears