WINNER
LEARNING TO FLY
GREEN SHORT STORY COMPETITION
BY P. J. RICHARDS
P. J. Richards lives in Somerset, surrounded by the folklore, mysticism and nature that inspires her writing and art. Several of her short stories have been published in anthologies and literary zines, and her debut novel Deeper Older Darker is published by indie press Snowbooks. She’s thrilled by this win and still can’t quite believe it!
'what's that?’ She points at the picture in the book I saved and leans forward on my lap, almost overbalancing. '
I shift her back so I can see the page again. ‘It’s a bird.’
‘Is it an alive thing?’
‘It was a living animal, yes.’
‘Did you see it in the real?’
‘Lots, they were everywhere.’ I smile. ‘They would come to my garden for the food I’d put out on the bird-table.’
‘They sat on a table? Like people?’
I grin and shake my head. ‘No, it was like a tray held up on a stick, with the food on top.’
She stares up at the blank, concrete walls, visualising. ‘Did they walk on them little wire legs, to get up the stick to the food?’
‘Well, they could walk and hop but most of all they loved to fly.’ I was warming to the tale and spread my free hand, miming a flapping wing.
‘Like a drone?’
‘Much better than a drone.’ I turn the page. There is a photo of a tiny bird drinking from a scarlet flower, pollen dusting its iridescent green head. ‘Look, this is a humming bird, it could hover.’
‘Like a drone.’ Her tone is condescending.
Leggete l'articolo completo e molti altri in questo numero di
Writing Magazine
Opzioni di acquisto di seguito
Se il problema è vostro,
Accesso
per leggere subito l'articolo completo.
Singolo numero digitale
November 2023
Questo numero e altri numeri arretrati non sono inclusi in un nuovo
abbonamento. Gli abbonamenti comprendono l'ultimo numero regolare e i nuovi numeri pubblicati durante l'abbonamento.
Writing Magazine
Abbonamento digitale annuale
€69,99
fatturati annualmente
Abbonamento digitale di 6 mesi
€35,99
fatturati due volte l'anno