In a futuristic land in what used to be Kenya, there is a village called Kirinyaga populated by the Kikuyu people. The god of these people is named Ngai. These people believe that Ngai gave men wings, until one day a man sees the birds flying high and joins them. Ngai becomes offended that the man rose higher than Ngai himself on his throne atop the mountain Kirinyaga, and plucks off the man’s feathers to keep him from ever going higher than him again. Koriba is the mundumugu, or witch doctor. He has a computer which he uses to contact Maintenance, through which he is able to control the weather and influence the physical landscape and environment of the village, while also maintaining traditional religious practices. A young girl from the village named Kamari brings him a wounded pygmy falcon. Koriba insists that even if he mends the bird’s broken wing, the bird will still die because it will no longer be able to fly and will be mournful that it can no longer ride upon the winds. Kamari is very strong willed, and unlike most people of the village is unafraid of the witch doctor. She argues with him, insisting that he heals the bird, and agrees to care for it herself, as well as working for Koriba to cover the fee for mending its wings.  As she cleans Koriba’s home one morning, with the wounded bird nearby in a cage for her to look over as she works, Kamari finds a book of Shakespeare’s poems and convinces Koriba to read it to her. She begs Koriba to teach her how to read the story for herself, but Koriba says it is not allowed for women to read. They discuss the history of European colonization of their people and Koriba explains that if she was to learn how to read their stories, Kamari would become disconnected from her life in Kirinyaga with the Kikuyu people. Despite his many warnings and a parable meant to stop Kamari from trying to learn more than she is meant to as a young girl, she teaches herself how to read and write by using Koriba’s computer when he is not present. When he discovers this from Kamari’s father, he becomes upset with the girl and sets the computer so that it cannot communicate with the girl in any known language. Kamari outsmarts Koriba once again by creating her own language for the computer to communicate with her through. Koriba is impressed by the young girl’s persistence, but is concerned about her disruption of the social order. In retaliation of Koriba’s banning her from learning from the computer, Kamari does not eat or drink for three days and remains in her father’s home rather than doing Koriba’s chores as she promised to do for several more weeks. Koriba visits her and insists that she must stay in her place as a woman and not learn how to read or write, and demands that she eat and drink and return to his home that afternoon to do the chores she had promised to do. She tries to explain to him that she feels like the falcon, wanting to stay in her home of Kirinyaga while also having access to the world of reading and writing, as the falcon longs for the sky. Koriba does not budge, telling her that she may chose to leave Kirinyaga if she wants to learn more, or stay at home and remain in her proper place as a woman. He leaves, and when he returns discovers that Kamari has hung herself. For the rest of his life, Koriba tries to heal every wounded bird he finds, and forever regrets the consequences of his actions with the little girl.