And She's Gone

Elloise has disappeared. She is MIA. I last saw her Friday night. Saturday morning when I left town for the weekend I noticed she was not on her nest. I assumed she was getting food. One of her eggs had a little crack. I thought, "Oh, it's going to hatch soon! And I'll probably miss it." But when I returned Sunday night, there was still no Elloise. And the nest was silent. The two eggs sat exactly as I saw them last, one slightly cracked, the other intact. Cooling and dying, if they're not already dead. And I can't save them.

I'm more than a little sad.