Revised description/summary for "The Bird-man of Nuuanu Valley"

The Bird-man of Nuuanu is part historical fiction and part fantasy. Through the perspective of a wild Parakeet, we witness some of the events that shaped Nuuanu Valley, Honolulu. The story begins with the Hawaiian legend of a Maui man, Namaka, who leapt or was thrown, from the Pali during a wrestling contest with the King of Oahu's favorite warrior. In the legend, Namaka lives on to become a great warrior himself, but in this story, he is reincarnated as a Hawaiian Honeycreeper.

He becomes best friends with a Mockingbird who lives in a large Banyan tree in the center of the valley, and together they witness the battle of Nuuanu. During the battle of Nuuanu, Kaiana, King Kalanikupule's strongest ally, was probably not fatally wounded by the explosion of a cannonball while listening to a Mockingbird sing, but the Banyan tree that witnessed the battle is still there, and Mockingbirds still populate the island.

Namaka remains in the valley and is reborn as a parrot belonging to Queen Emma. He thrives at the Queen's Palace in Nuuanu Valley. He plays mimicking games with the Queen as she rides her magnificent horse through the forests surrounding the valley. He follows the funeral procession of Queen Emma's son, Prince Albert, as he is buried at the Royal Mausoleum. As far as I know, Queen Emma never had a parrot. If she did, I hope that it was as entertaining and loyal as "Leo nui" was in this story.

After Namaka says goodbye to the Queen at the Royal Mausoleum, his spirit merges more deeply with the beautiful valley. Decades later, the son of a Japanese farmer from Waimanalo was in the process of delivering domesticated parakeets to a pet shop in Chinatown, when he has a terrible accident at Morgan's corner on the Old Pali Road. The boy is hurt badly, and bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Namaka finds himself reborn as a wild parakeet. When the boy's father is killed by friendly anti-aircraft fire during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the spirit of Queen Emma guides Namaka to the grieving son. Namaka realizes that it is his destiny to live with and comfort humans.

With Namaka's help, the boy grows into a fine young man and falls in love. He sells the farm, and then moves to the hills above Nuuanu Valley. As a tribute to his mother and father, he helps to build replicas of two famous Japanese temples in the section of the Nuuanu Cemetery close to the Royal Mausoleum. Tourists stop every day at the scenic lookout on the downtown bound section of the Pali Highway and take pictures of the temples that are now being restored. Not many people know the area is called Kyoto Gardens, and fewer still recognize the bird on top of one of the buildings as a Phoenix.

Flocks of green parakeets can be seen foraging in Nuuanu Valley during the day and roosting in the mountains at dusk. They are not indigenous birds and no one knows how they arrived here, but they have survived and made this valley their home. I watch the flocks fly into the hillsides each evening as the sun begins to set. I'm grateful that I share this historic and beautiful valley with them.