The unremarkable sound solicited an unconscious glance out the window. When Melody’s gaze landed on the empty patio set the daze she had been in while unloading the dishwasher had not been broken. Until she heard it again. It was a thud, soft and muffled. It sounded like one of the black aluminum chairs bumping the wood planks of the deck as it shifted beneath an occupants weight. 

 This time, when she heard the noise, she took notice. Calling her attention again to the window, where within her view of the vacant outdoor dining set was a flash of something that caught her eye. 

  Brilliant green streaked by. What was that? An enormous bug of some sort? Were dragon flies green?

Melody thought of bright summer days lounging on the dock as kids. The lull of the sparkling waves sleepy with boredom and Melody recalled only blue dragon flies flitting around. She supposed they could be green. 

 The idea of a dragon fly hitting the window did not seem probable in this instance. The collision of glass and effodescent wings would be an altogether different sound, one of a messy buzzing thwack. 

 Another splash of green zipped out from behind the humming bird feeder and darted right back again out of Melody’s view. It hadn’t been bigger than her thumb with wings a blur, beating at an impossible rate. Such a beautiful marvel. Tiny and powerful, moving so quickly the human eye cannot quite see.

But where had the thud come from? Another flurry of fluttering wings jetted from above and to her astonishment, smacked directly into the other humming bird. Shocked by the aggression and deliberate violence, Melody reasoned this to be a display of male birds posturing. A miniture rallying of competition over a mate. The attack was swift. After blitzing the bird hovering at the feeder the offender flew back in the direction it had come. 

How could something so small harbor such termendous zeel and moxy? Imagine the size of its heart, so delicate yet fierce and determined.

Curious, Melody closed the dishwasher and moved to the sink to better her view. Just beyond the window’s frame on the clothes line that stretched the entire length of the backyard perched the other bird. A sagging blue cable doubling back onto itself held and now still humming bird. 

Again the tiny aviator with the higher advantage, was bomb diving the other who never faltered from its place at the feeder. Now that Melody could see the entire scene with her new position, it occurred to her that if this was over a female, shouldn’t she be close by?

There were four yellow flowers skirting the humming bird feeder. A strawberry shaped container with clear liquid offered waxy plastic flowers to surrounding humming birds. This endless supply of nector dangled there shielded from the wind in the alcove of her country home that backed onto rolling hills of farmers fields edged with and overgrowth of wild flowers. Purple, blue and, pink dotted the wide strips of tall grass that followed the fence line into the horizon. At the far end of their property, Melody’s mother fussed over a large manicured garden of irises, begonias, and rose bushes. The means of nector in the vacinity was limitless yet one humming bird flitted around the feeder as if guarding it. Protecting the open flower stalls like one would preserve a row of seats in the movie theater as they waited for their friends to arrive or return from the concession stand. This panicked frenzy to horde the plastic flowers in an effort to squeeze out the other bird made it clear to Melody that these humming birds were female. Most likely related. 

This pointless and petty fight was nothing but a display of cruel catty stubborn behaviour. It became clear to Melody the bird’s were no doubt sisters.