Friday Flash Fiction - An Old-Fashioned Letter
My dear Po
It has been far too long since I last wrote you an old-fashioned letter with pen and paper, and this will only be a short note to go with your birthday present: a clay sculpture of my new summer friend.
A few months back this little magpie just wandered into my workshop. No idea what happened to her family – they’re usually a very tight-knit bunch, with juveniles often staying on to help Mum and Dad with their next brood – but this little thing hung around doing that very insistent ‘feed me’ squawk baby birds specialise in. The noise made it impossible to concentrate on work, but of course I couldn’t just turf her out. Instead, we bonded with bugs I collected from the community gardens.
Soon, she was following me around like a shadow, chirping away even when she wasn’t hungry. Of course, with her around every day and us bonding, I had to give her a name. Maggie seemed a bit obvious, so she became Stripes. She recognises her name, and if I stand just outside my studio door, in the shade of that tall bottle brush tree and call her, she comes swooping down for some treats.
I asked Don to teach me how to 3D print meal worms and crickets. You remember Don, don’t you? Tall fella always rescuing wildlife when the fires were still so bad. Didn’t you have a crush on him before you met Shelly and moved to the farm? Or was that me?
These days, Stripes is all grown up and has found a mate so no doubt they’ll be getting ready to nest once spring rolls around again. She still comes to visit me every afternoon. Sits on my workbench ‘supervising’ while I sculpt, having a good old natter and warble. I wanted to capture her personality in clay, mid-chatter with beak open wide. Let me know what you think – I tried to get that mischievous glint in her eye just right.
I really am out of practice at writing. My hand is aching, and this looks like quite a scrawl. Remember when we were teens and loved the novelty of pen and paper, writing notes to each other instead of using our devs?
So, with that, I will close off and get your package into the next convoy heading west.
All my love,
Your big sister, Ari