Episode 8 of Start With This: Art is DisposableÂ
Create: Write a 2-minute, 250-word story about a wedding reception. Refine it a bit. Now, completely delete it! Then, write a 2-minute story about a bird. Record and/or share this one.Â
The bird flapped awkwardly, its ungainly wings lifting it into the air seemingly by sheer force of will. It hit an updraft and soared upwards for a few seconds, then allowed itself to glide through the gap in the buildings. The city was a paradise that it had become used to – there was so much food, just lying around. Occasionally, a tourist would feed it a few bits of bread, delighted by its unusual shape. The usual citizens of the city did not feed it anymore. There was signs up everywhere, sharing its distinct likeness, telling anyone who cared enough to read it not to feed the birds. Â
One human did not care. He sat in the same spot every day, a shaded bench in the rich gardens at the bottom of the city. He had spent so much of his younger years caring for these birds, and they had learnt to trust him. The bird joined him every day, taking up a few of the seeds he sprinkled around, watching to make sure that the young ones – both bird and human – shared, and weren’t greedy or harsh. Â
The man did not return one day. The bird circled the gardens for some time. Time did not matter for the bird, but when the sun had gone, the man had not come. Some cycles of sun later, a girl sat when the man had. The bird recognised the man in her immediately. It came and sat with her, each in their own places. It did not understand humans. But this one it knew. Â
