Below is a piece of original short fiction by our friend Laura McPhee-Browne.
It was a cool day, and waves crawled up and back along the sand like crabs drunk on salt water. Pig and Bird stood next to each other on a grassy hill above.
Hello, said Pig to Bird.
Bird did not answer Pig but continued to stand on one leg, looking across at the ocean.
Hello, I said, said Pig, in a tone quite far removed from friendliness and rather close to irritation. Hello, I said, can you hear me?
Bird turned and rested her black bean eyes on Pig, letting them wander down to his belly and all the way up to his ears. Pig sucked in his stomach; he had eaten two servings of slop for breakfast that morning due to a feeding mix-up.
Bird nodded.
Before you speak to others, she said, make sure you speak to yourself.
And before Pig could reply, with what yet he did not know, Bird wiped her short beak on each of her shiny black wings and jumped into the air as if to fly.
Words by Laura McPhee-Browne
Illustration by Marine Bucher
