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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: Personal Growth / Achievement
- Published: 07/31/2015
The Magpie and The Golden Thread
Born 1991, F, from Pretoria, Gauteng, South AfricaYellow magnificent leaves littered the fish-scaled pavement, allowing a wheel of golden thread to glitter in the morning sunrise. It was on this day that I swooped from the abyss of the heavens to peck at the leaves in search of ruby and emerald remnants of leftovers. Gold glinted into one of my black stone eyes. I instantaneously grew greedy, slowly unraveling the golden thread with it woven onto my body like skin.
A sunburned screen enclosed the precious scene. White gold, like peppermint crisp, refreshed the air around us like the aroma of Lilac. The beholder of this golden thread would be like an antique man sitting on a torn, peeled granny couch finding out that he had just won the lottery. If I know anything, it would be that man harvests gold, fights for gold, goes to war for gold and lives for gold. I have witnessed devilish, mascara-running eyed temptresses who have fornicated and killed their lovers for greed to possess the peppermint crisp taste of paper and coin.
I admired my exotic reflection in the mirror provided by the crystallized water of the ocean. My golden reflection allowed me to appear more affluent and celestial compared to the other birds that occupied the sky. I let out a melodious cry to affirm my existence in God’s eyes. All the other birds gazed at me in astonishment; never before had I experienced such admiration.
I flew statuesque in the air, an ornamental bird that was created by God and thrown into the air like a baseball granting a home run. The golden thread sank into my feathered body transitioning from gold armor to flesh. A pair of seagulls eyed me suspiciously. They both grew curious and suddenly turned mad with greed. “Where did you happen to come across such beautiful scales?” inquired one of them. I grew to become familiar with greed and was immediately urged to tell a lie. “It was passed down from my mother; this piece of jewellery has been in our family for centuries before your time,” I replied smugly. They eyed one another one last time and sandwiched me with one on either side. They grew tight against me, trying to peck at my golden flesh to steal it for their own selfish purposes. Travelling at a cosmic speed, I could hear the one saying to the other, “Fred, we will share the armor and divide the thread between the two of us.”
I was not ready to forfeit my treasure and instead swooped down, changing my direction to the South. I immediately lost them, having swerved toward land where creatures that walked on two and all fours coexisted.
II
I landed on a dusty planet surrounded by mountainous sand dunes with the air filled with the smell of salt and sea. I met a crustacean with pastel peach armor sprinkled with orange pox. “My goodness! I have not seen such precious skin before, a ravishing beauty must have birthed you my dear,” declared the crustacean with his pincers threateningly raised in the air. I pleaded with the dear old crustacean, “Please spare me.” He searched my fearful, comical button eyes with kindness and instead invited me to his home. The amiable crustacean made a comfortable home within the sand dunes. The scorching African heat burned my feet. Warmth surrounded us, along with a beautiful conversation as the deadly night crept by.
Never before had I come across such great hospitality; not once had I seen familiar greed pass over the wise crustacean’s glassy eyes. He had only inquired about my dear mother and father as well as my journey in life. “I’ve lived my life on this sandy Mars, scavenging for food, riding the waves and pinching one or two humans along the way; they are indeed very strange,” he croaked. He had offered advice to steer clear from the two-legged creatures.
I was on my way out when he eventually asked for a favor. “I’ve explored this entire dusty planet and would appreciate seeing the world through God’s eyes. Would you fly me for a bit in the heavens?” I agreed with much enthusiasm.
Donning trails of golden thread, I flew over the ocean in eternal bliss, admiring, yet again, my golden reflection in the crystal clear abyss of the sea. “Lift me higher! I want to see everything,” pleaded the crustacean. I raised him to a great height among the cotton-ball clouds so that he could admire the celestial beauty of our planet and the parasitic creatures that inhabited it; that he had so easily condemned.
I placed him back on the sand dunes with the air filled with salt and sea. “Thank you kind stranger,” I said gratuitously. The crustacean looked at me with tears gleaming in his soulful eyes and replied, “Thank you, my dear friend for allowing me to explore the heavens through God’s eyes. I do not admire you for your golden skin but rather for your heart.” Touched by these words, I bid farewell to my beloved friend the crustacean and left with a heavy heart. As a gift, he gave me green stained sea glass which he had been preserving for a special occasion.
III
Having journeyed far; I flew over a local park and performed a graceful dance like a meticulous ballerina to a small group of ragged beggars who showered me with bits of bread as my early morning breakfast. My dear friend the crustacean and I had underestimated these two-legged creatures as some of them displayed a great deal of kindness.
I flew over the filth contained streets and spotted a black suited businessman standing next to his gold Lamborghini accompanied by a blonde and raven-haired beauty; both blessed with heavy breasts; donning pink mini dresses. He seemed utterly content with his materials of accomplishment and I could not help but feel the same way about my golden flesh.
IV
I flew above the local zoo and rested on the gates of the entrance as my wings had grown tired and the golden thread bared weight upon my feather light body. There was a sudden silence as children; women and men flocked around the entrance, staring in amazement at me. I cannot deny that I enjoyed the attention. I performed the same dance as I had done in the park and they remained hypnotized as if in a trance. Was it me or had it been my dance? They tried to touch me and some even tried to catch me but I flew away, mocking them in the process.
V
The next morning, the sunrise greeted me as I lay in my nest; my golden flesh glinted against the sunshine. I unravelled the golden thread from my natural body as if peeling away skin. I took flight, feeling exposed and rather naked.
It felt abnormal flying against the wind with my feathered body; no bird took any notice of me. I landed on the local zoo entrance gates and danced like a graceful ballerina as I had done the previous day. No child, woman nor man paid any attention to me. A beggar pointed at me and shrieked with laughter, he had punctures in his left arm filled with some toxic substance. Singing a melodious tune, the intoxicated beggar laughed harder and still no one took notice in my ability to dance and sing. Growing concern enabled me to fly back to the comfort of my nest in horrific silence with the mass of thoughts erupting in my head.
Once back in the comfort of my home, I stared at the golden thread in hope that it would redefine all impossibility and provide solutions to my predicament. It did not speak but instead reflected into my now wise, tearful glassy eyes. No one recognized my beauty without my golden skin. I wove the golden thread onto my feathered body for one last time and admired my reflection in a shard of mirror.
VI
Flying high above the toxic streets, I landed in the palm of a confident suited man. My tired feet rested in the grooves of his palm as he leaned closely into me and whispered, “Happiness is not defined by what we own or the status of friends we keep but instead by the way in which one knows oneself. Tragically, one may only know oneself when death pays an unexpected visit.” He pushed me in the direction of the wind, exhaling as if blowing the last candle on a birthday cake.
I shed my golden skin like a Black Mamba and flew into the heavens leaving my fate to God and allowing myself to enjoy the simple pleasures in life whether that be a laugh or a tear, I was living.
The Magpie and The Golden Thread(Sasheera)
Yellow magnificent leaves littered the fish-scaled pavement, allowing a wheel of golden thread to glitter in the morning sunrise. It was on this day that I swooped from the abyss of the heavens to peck at the leaves in search of ruby and emerald remnants of leftovers. Gold glinted into one of my black stone eyes. I instantaneously grew greedy, slowly unraveling the golden thread with it woven onto my body like skin.
A sunburned screen enclosed the precious scene. White gold, like peppermint crisp, refreshed the air around us like the aroma of Lilac. The beholder of this golden thread would be like an antique man sitting on a torn, peeled granny couch finding out that he had just won the lottery. If I know anything, it would be that man harvests gold, fights for gold, goes to war for gold and lives for gold. I have witnessed devilish, mascara-running eyed temptresses who have fornicated and killed their lovers for greed to possess the peppermint crisp taste of paper and coin.
I admired my exotic reflection in the mirror provided by the crystallized water of the ocean. My golden reflection allowed me to appear more affluent and celestial compared to the other birds that occupied the sky. I let out a melodious cry to affirm my existence in God’s eyes. All the other birds gazed at me in astonishment; never before had I experienced such admiration.
I flew statuesque in the air, an ornamental bird that was created by God and thrown into the air like a baseball granting a home run. The golden thread sank into my feathered body transitioning from gold armor to flesh. A pair of seagulls eyed me suspiciously. They both grew curious and suddenly turned mad with greed. “Where did you happen to come across such beautiful scales?” inquired one of them. I grew to become familiar with greed and was immediately urged to tell a lie. “It was passed down from my mother; this piece of jewellery has been in our family for centuries before your time,” I replied smugly. They eyed one another one last time and sandwiched me with one on either side. They grew tight against me, trying to peck at my golden flesh to steal it for their own selfish purposes. Travelling at a cosmic speed, I could hear the one saying to the other, “Fred, we will share the armor and divide the thread between the two of us.”
I was not ready to forfeit my treasure and instead swooped down, changing my direction to the South. I immediately lost them, having swerved toward land where creatures that walked on two and all fours coexisted.
II
I landed on a dusty planet surrounded by mountainous sand dunes with the air filled with the smell of salt and sea. I met a crustacean with pastel peach armor sprinkled with orange pox. “My goodness! I have not seen such precious skin before, a ravishing beauty must have birthed you my dear,” declared the crustacean with his pincers threateningly raised in the air. I pleaded with the dear old crustacean, “Please spare me.” He searched my fearful, comical button eyes with kindness and instead invited me to his home. The amiable crustacean made a comfortable home within the sand dunes. The scorching African heat burned my feet. Warmth surrounded us, along with a beautiful conversation as the deadly night crept by.
Never before had I come across such great hospitality; not once had I seen familiar greed pass over the wise crustacean’s glassy eyes. He had only inquired about my dear mother and father as well as my journey in life. “I’ve lived my life on this sandy Mars, scavenging for food, riding the waves and pinching one or two humans along the way; they are indeed very strange,” he croaked. He had offered advice to steer clear from the two-legged creatures.
I was on my way out when he eventually asked for a favor. “I’ve explored this entire dusty planet and would appreciate seeing the world through God’s eyes. Would you fly me for a bit in the heavens?” I agreed with much enthusiasm.
Donning trails of golden thread, I flew over the ocean in eternal bliss, admiring, yet again, my golden reflection in the crystal clear abyss of the sea. “Lift me higher! I want to see everything,” pleaded the crustacean. I raised him to a great height among the cotton-ball clouds so that he could admire the celestial beauty of our planet and the parasitic creatures that inhabited it; that he had so easily condemned.
I placed him back on the sand dunes with the air filled with salt and sea. “Thank you kind stranger,” I said gratuitously. The crustacean looked at me with tears gleaming in his soulful eyes and replied, “Thank you, my dear friend for allowing me to explore the heavens through God’s eyes. I do not admire you for your golden skin but rather for your heart.” Touched by these words, I bid farewell to my beloved friend the crustacean and left with a heavy heart. As a gift, he gave me green stained sea glass which he had been preserving for a special occasion.
III
Having journeyed far; I flew over a local park and performed a graceful dance like a meticulous ballerina to a small group of ragged beggars who showered me with bits of bread as my early morning breakfast. My dear friend the crustacean and I had underestimated these two-legged creatures as some of them displayed a great deal of kindness.
I flew over the filth contained streets and spotted a black suited businessman standing next to his gold Lamborghini accompanied by a blonde and raven-haired beauty; both blessed with heavy breasts; donning pink mini dresses. He seemed utterly content with his materials of accomplishment and I could not help but feel the same way about my golden flesh.
IV
I flew above the local zoo and rested on the gates of the entrance as my wings had grown tired and the golden thread bared weight upon my feather light body. There was a sudden silence as children; women and men flocked around the entrance, staring in amazement at me. I cannot deny that I enjoyed the attention. I performed the same dance as I had done in the park and they remained hypnotized as if in a trance. Was it me or had it been my dance? They tried to touch me and some even tried to catch me but I flew away, mocking them in the process.
V
The next morning, the sunrise greeted me as I lay in my nest; my golden flesh glinted against the sunshine. I unravelled the golden thread from my natural body as if peeling away skin. I took flight, feeling exposed and rather naked.
It felt abnormal flying against the wind with my feathered body; no bird took any notice of me. I landed on the local zoo entrance gates and danced like a graceful ballerina as I had done the previous day. No child, woman nor man paid any attention to me. A beggar pointed at me and shrieked with laughter, he had punctures in his left arm filled with some toxic substance. Singing a melodious tune, the intoxicated beggar laughed harder and still no one took notice in my ability to dance and sing. Growing concern enabled me to fly back to the comfort of my nest in horrific silence with the mass of thoughts erupting in my head.
Once back in the comfort of my home, I stared at the golden thread in hope that it would redefine all impossibility and provide solutions to my predicament. It did not speak but instead reflected into my now wise, tearful glassy eyes. No one recognized my beauty without my golden skin. I wove the golden thread onto my feathered body for one last time and admired my reflection in a shard of mirror.
VI
Flying high above the toxic streets, I landed in the palm of a confident suited man. My tired feet rested in the grooves of his palm as he leaned closely into me and whispered, “Happiness is not defined by what we own or the status of friends we keep but instead by the way in which one knows oneself. Tragically, one may only know oneself when death pays an unexpected visit.” He pushed me in the direction of the wind, exhaling as if blowing the last candle on a birthday cake.
I shed my golden skin like a Black Mamba and flew into the heavens leaving my fate to God and allowing myself to enjoy the simple pleasures in life whether that be a laugh or a tear, I was living.
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