A Black Bird's Tale

I have been invited to participate in this amazing project for BirdLife Preservation Campaign organized by Wattpad and Margaret Atwood with a short story about an endangered bird species.

My story is dedicated to Forbes's Blackbird {Curaeus forbesi}

For the BirdLife Campaign

...~::~...

"A dear friend once told me this story about how she encountered a beautiful black bird in the garden of her house one day. He had soft, smooth and shiny black feathers, the color of the blackest ink she had ever seen. She was immediately drawn to the mysterious bird.

At first, she was curious, there was something alluring about the little black bird that kept her eyes glued on him at all times, as she tried to figure him out. He looked so 'aware', so intelligent, even 'witty' she would dare to say.

The bird kept coming to her garden, flying away by the end of the afternoons. Soon, he became less of a strange visitor and more of a daily companion, always present, always there, hopping over chairs and skipping away over bushes and playing around her feet. They soon became best friends. He kept her company when she was feeling lonely: they talked (well, she talked, he chirped excitedly back), she fed him all the sweet things she could find in the house, fruits, soft bread, fresh grains. He was by her side while she worked outside on her laptop, and sometimes when he was bored or jealous of her work, he would pick at her fingers lightly and jump in front of her screen to make her stop and pay more attention to him, like she ought to be doing all along. It seemed he wanted her undivided attention and nothing less.

And then one day, after months of constant attendance, when he finally realized he not only had her attention, but her undying love, he flew away to never return again.

She waited and waited for her black bird to come back, but he never did. She was left to mourn the loss of her beloved bird with a broken heart.

My friend's story planted the little seed that would later grow inside my head. The story that follows is dedicated to this one special Black Bird that stole my friend's heart away."

Lilian Carmine.