birds – Facts, Fictions & Fantasies

Esther’s Weekly Writing Prompt — Like Birds of a Feather…

July 9, 2025July 9, 2025Fandango6 Comments

Esther Chilton’s writing prompt this week is birds.

We gather near the same fire, drawn by warmth and shared smoke. Our laughter sounds familiar, echoes of each other, as if one soul split itself into many bodies just to be understood.

Like birds, we move in groups, invisible strings tying wrist to wrist, habits to hearts, songs we all somehow know the chorus to.

One believes, the others echo. One fears, the rest retreat. The comfort of commonness can be louder than truth.

We dress alike without meaning to, repeat phrases like passwords, sit at the same tables, even when the chairs pinch.

Difference stands at the edge — noticed, but not invited. Sometimes it imitates flight just to be allowed to land.

Among birds, safety is flight in formation. Among humans, it’s approval wrapped in a smile. Flocking feels like belonging until someone wants to turn against the wind.

Image generated using Leonardo.ai.

OMIMM — Mister Chen and His Birds

May 17, 2025May 16, 2025Fandango14 Comments

Mr. Chen woke up every morning at the crack of dawn and walked the worn path to the edge of the village, where the sun rose slow and silent over the cracked white wall he once helped plaster as a young mason.

Many decades had passed since those days when laughter echoed through these alleys, when his wife would wait with tea, and their son chased sparrows across the courtyard.

Now, with his gnarled hands wrapped around the warmth of a pigeon he fed daily, Mr. Chen sat alone with the quiet companionship of his birds. The war had taken his son, and time had taken his wife. All that remained were echoes, soft coos, and the feel of soft feathers beneath his rough fingers.

A lone bird rested beside him on the ledge today, as if keeping watch. His birds remembered with him, not through his words, but merely by his presence. There was sorrow in his stillness, but peace, too.

In the quiet, he fed and caressed his birds, patiently waiting until the day finally arrived for someone else to look after his feathered friends.

Written for Mike Jackson’s Only Murders In My Mind Weekly Writing Prompt. Photo credit: no attribution.

WDYS — Freeing My Mind

February 6, 2024February 6, 2024Fandango11 Comments

I sat on the swing chair on my backyard deck, burdened by all of my worries. I knew I had to learn to relax, to free my mind before I totally lost it.

A light breeze whispered through the leaves as a flock of small birds landed on the the wet rock bed of our waterfall, flapping their wings in the shallow stream to bathe themselves and then flying back onto the branches of nearby trees to dry out.

I closed my eyes and, as I was rocked by the gentle motion of the swing chair, I thought of worries that were clouding my mind and imagined each worry to be one of those small birds, cleansing their feathers in the waterfall. I took a deep breath, and released my worries onto the backs of those birds. And as they flew away from the waterfall, I felt the weight of worry lifting from my shoulders.

I smiled, my mind having been freed of the weight of my worries, at least temporarily. I felt truly liberated by the act of letting go, ready to embrace the world with a newfound lightness and clarity.

I love my backyard.

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Photo credit: Suefeldberg.

Share Your World — Crime, Change, Birds, and Clothing

June 1, 2020June 1, 2020Fandango6 Comments

It’s Monday and that means that Melanie has posted another edition of Share Your World. Today’s SYW questions are a rather eclectic bunch.

Is it ever okay to commit a crime? Please explain.

Okay, according to Wikipedia, “The term ‘crime’ does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition.” There are crimes that are “unlawful acts punishable by a state or other authority,” and there are those that are shameful, such as, “It’s a crime that the United States has an inept buffoon and an outright moron who thinks only of himself and lacks any degree of empathy as its president.”

Generally speaking, it’s not okay to commit a crime. That said, from a personal perspective, I am guilty of criminal behavior. Before marijuana for recreational use was legalized in my state, I used it. I often drive above the posted speed limits on highways. I sometimes tell little white lies, either to protect myself or to spare another’s feelings (“No, sweetie, those jeans don’t make you look fat.”). But I’ve never committed a felonious crime. At least not that I know of.

Do you deal with change well? (Not money, because I know some wit out there is thinking how bulky coins are. Well I did any how. )

Generally, yes, I deal well with change. But I have to say that as I’ve gotten older, I don’t embrace change solely for the sake of change. If it ain’t broke, I say, don’t fix it. I wish the folks at WordPress would spend more time fixing the things that are broke instead of rolling out “new and improved” and often totally unnecessary changes.

Do you like birds? The sound of bird song in the morning, taking pictures of them, as food?

Sure. What’s not to like about birds? They’re delicious.

What’s the least used item of clothing you own?

Now that I’m retired, it’s my suits, ties, and dress shoes.

If you care to share, what are you grateful for?

I’m grateful for waking up this morning, the day WordPress was to have retired its Classic editor in favor of the “new and improved” Block editor, and finding that the Classic editor is still there and that I could use it to create this post.

Birds, Squirrels, and Beavers

December 26, 2019December 25, 2019FandangoLeave a comment

DD91ED79-CC2D-41AB-99B6-AE46947ABC7B It was quite a sight to behold on that blustery day. People were looking up into sky in amazement. They couldn’t quite believe that a few dozen birds had attached long, black, nylon cords to the branches of a large tree, which had been felled earlier in the day by gusty winds, and managed to lift it up and off the frosty ground.

Once the tree was airborne, the birds flew it to nearby location in the park, where a host of enterprising squirrels had already dug a whole deep enough and wide enough to allow the birds to lower the tree’s roots down into it.

After the birds had positioned the tree perfectly perpendicular to the ground, a small colony of beavers came around and used their broad, flat tails to shovel the dirt from the hole that the squirrels had dug back over the roots of the transplanted tree. Then the beavers patted the dirt down tight, ensuring that the tree was secure.

One of people observing the feat noted that the birds, squirrels, and beavers showed remarkable resolve when it came to relocating and transplanting the fallen tree. Another referred to the spectacle as a Christmas miracle. And all who witnessed the remarkable event were feeling merry and were full of joy.

Written for this week’s Photo Challenge from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. Photo Credit: Sarolta Bán. Also for these daily prompts from yesterday: Daily Addictions (sight), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (frost), The Daily Spur (resolve), Ragtag Daily Prompt (Christmas), Word of the Day Challenge (merry), and Your Daily Word Prompt (joy).