Bats

The glowing yellow-red globe slowly wanes in the sky, and begins to dip below The Pearl’s (Uganda) horizon. The sky turns pink, and clouds stretch as far as the distant sun, as if they are trying to touch its final beams of light. The land begins to grow dark, as the final light reveals an exquisite sight: black wings stretch through the air, creating a wave that swirls through the sky.

For as far as the eye can see, from the farthest reaches of the west and east, this never ending wave of moving spectacles mask the last light. If one could count, they would say that there are hundreds of thousands of these night-flyers escaping from their daytime home.

When the sun pounds its power on the Earth during the day, these creatures hide and hang from the limbs of the canopy in the deep Mabira Forest, and as the sun weakens they make their escape. Thrusting into the air they reveal themselves from their hideout. They awake and can be seen only for a moment as the light says its final goodnight and slips behind the horizon. As the world falls into a deep sleep, they thrive, feed, and sweep violently though the thick warm dark night sky.