Tag: bird

Nikola and the Two Crows

There was, in a time not too long past, a youth by the name of Nikola, who walked within a wood beside his town. The paths were well-trodden. Nikola met many whom he met often. He gave and received greeting. He strolled past green leaves and hanging fruit in spring and summer. He strolled past fire-gold leaves in fall and snow-laden branches in winter.

Then, one day, he almost strolled past the most captivating sight he had ever seen in the wood.

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The Ten Terrible Heads of Shi Xin Niao

Two young lovers there were of humble origin. Caihong, who was more brilliant to her lover than the rainbow. Jin, who was more precious to his lover than gold.

Though young, they were sensible, and had already made their plans for the lives they would live together—the number of children they would have, the color of the roof on their house, the trading of places for the scholarship each sought to pursue, one in medicine and one in art.

Late in the morning, they strode along the road one day, each bearing baskets from early errands. They were so enchanted with each other that the vibrant energies of their love pulsed far and wide, and far, far above. Those energies attracted the attention of an unusual creature, a great bird with ten heads that lived in the forbidding depths of the mountains that bordered their country.

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The Man Who Cried Bird

“It’s a blue cardinal, look.”

Roy looked as Andre swiped through the photos he’d taken of the bird perched on the branches of the tree near the picnic area of his park he’d visited that weekend.

“There’s no such bird, Andre.”

Andre closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose. “That’s because no one has seen him, until now.”

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River Fisher and Blue Dragon

“Strange,” the many-colored creature said.

It was not the reaction that Halceyx expected. With her beak full—full of the creature—she could not speak. But the creature, who was some kind of water slug, seemed to understand the inquisitive squeak that Halceyx uttered. The creature answered her as if she had spoken.

“Yes, it’s strange that you’re still alive. You have lucked into grasping me in just the right way.”

Halceyx uttered another query in the form of another squeak.

“I possess many different pockets,” the water slug said, “and I keep poisons in them.”

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