It was time for class to begin and the professor began to speak. Naya had been in such a hurry to make it to class, she hadn’t even taken a moment to notice the birds. Astute observational skills. Well apparently Naya did not deserve that complement today. How could she have missed the cages full of blue birds? When they flew out and landed on the professor’s arm, it reminded her of a bird that her grandmother had once. Naya then watched as the professor gently and carefully removed one bird from its cage. Was it sick? Old? She would have to wait to find out the answer to that question.

In the meantime, there was a question to think about. How to identify the age of a creature. Did he mean specifically or generally? It would be rather hard to guess or figure out a creature’s actual age. Getting the general neighborhood of the age might be a little easier. Too bad that animals were not like trees. You could look at their rings and figure out exactly how old they were.

Coming up with an answer that she hoped was good, Naya raised her hand. “Some people may start to lose their hair when they get older.” Although some people with thinning or balding hair chose to hide it with wigs, hairpieces and weaves......so you may not get that clue.