Alasdair was soaring thru the powder blue sky, flying in and out of the puffy white clouds, feeling the warm sunshine on his light brown feathers. He was busy daydreaming, not really paying attention to what was going on around him. A blast of cold air blew around him and he became alert. Coming towards him at a fast speed was a wall of sleet and snow. Soon he was engulfed in it as the pellets of ice blasted at his beak, eyes and wings. He fought his way through the storm, struggling until he was once again in the clear blue sky.

He shook his wings and frozen raindrops fell out of them, but he couldn’t get the little bits of ice out of his eyes. They were very sore. He rubbed them but it didn’t help.

Flying high, he looked down at the moor, hoping to see something to eat. Eagles prefer to eat small rodents or snakes, so he had to look carefully.

Barden, the snake, slithered up onto a rock warmed by the sun, to gather heat after his meal, which was a plump, juicy mouse. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Alasdair, from above, spotted Barden on the rock. He swooped down and scooped up the snake in his beak. Barden opened his eyes. He started hissing angrily. He started striking at Alasdair and trying to bite him. He was mad. Alasdair, still trying to get the ice pellets out of his eyes, wasn’t in the mood to fight with the snake so he dropped him onto the boggy moor below. Barden landed with a splat on some spongy peat. He looked up at Alasdair and hissed.

Alasdair flapped his wings and flew up high into the sky. He rubbed his sore eyes, hoping they would feel better. He couldn’t believe he’d not been able to hold onto Barden. When he was high up, he swooped in and out of the clouds, looking for something else that he could eat.

Blossom, the squirrel, was standing next to an oak tree. She was looking at the acorns. They were so delicious looking. Suddenly Alasdair swooped down and grabbed Blossom’s neck and tried to pull her up into the air with his beak. Blossom held onto the oak tree trunk with all her might. Alasdair’s eyes hurt so badly that he had to rub them and let go of Blossom.

She started squealing and threw acorns at Alasdair. The eagle flew up into the air. He had several bits of Blossom’s fur caught in his beak. He spit them out and they fluttered slowly downward, landing near Blossom’s long, fluffy tail.

Alasdair rubbed his sore eyes and a little more ice came out. Oh, did they hurt. He couldn’t believe he’d had to let go of a squirrel. He flapped his wings and flew up into the clouds. He sat on one, looking down at the ground. His eyes were still a little blurry but he was sure he spotted a red fox. He flew down quickly to see.

Bronson, the fox, was standing on the moor, just outside of his burrow. He was yawning and stretching after his long nap. As he let out a huge yawn he saw a shadow appear on the ground in front of him. He looked up just in time to see Alasdair’s beak wide open and heading right for him. He put his paws up in front of his face as Alasdair’s beak encircled him.

Bronson growled and wriggled his body angrily as Alasdair flew into the sky with the fox held tightly in his beak. Bronson growled some more and hit Alasdair in the eyes with his fluffy tail. In pain, he let go of the fox.

Bronson fell to the ground and landed right in a puddle of water. The icy water sent prickles through his body. He growled angrily and held up a fist to Alasdair. He climbed out of the water and shook himself off.

Alasdiar couldn’t believe it. That was three times he had something to eat for dinner that he’d had to drop. Feeling angry with himself, he headed for the river. He scooped up some river water with his wings and splashed it into his eyes. He took a little drink, shook the water off and smiled. He felt much better now.

He started flapping his wings and flew into the puffy clouds. Swooping up and down through the white cotton-ball clouds, he gazed down to the ground. At last he could see everything clear. At last he had his keen eyesight back.