Nothing summed up where her life was heading, better than this road to nowhere on the Nullarbor Plain.
“Should’ve known when I aimed for the stars, I’d land nose first in the dirt. Freedom’s over-rated. Was much better off locked in my cage. I’m gunna to die out here.”
Lost in the outback too tired to fly any further, Chirpy Bird flopped beside the road, waiting for heaven.
Meanwhile, Jack had been driving his rig non-stop from Adelaide.
“What the?”he exclaimed, rubbing his eyes. A yellow canary out in the desert? Definitely, time to pull over.
….
This has been another contribution to Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wishoff-Fields. This week’s photo prompt © Danny Bowman.
This is Chirpy Bird’s second appearance. If feel like a good dose of angst, here’s a poem I wrote about Chirpy Bird being dumped in Paris back in 1992: The Yellow House
I have set my take on the prompt in Australia’s Nullarbor Plain. I have crossed the Nullarbor a couple of times by train and driven across once. It’s an intriguing place. It has a sense of raw brutality about it. A road train kills a kangaroo and an eagle goes “Yippee! Dinner!” Then the eagle sees a huge road train approaching and decides to defend it’s meal, almost to the death.
Could say so much more, but’s after midnight.
Here’s a bit more about the Nullarbor Plain:
The Nullarbor Plain (/ˈnʌlərbɔːr/ NUL-ər-bor; Latin: nullus, “no”, and arbor, “tree”[1]) is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. It is the world’s largest single exposure of limestone bedrock, and occupies an area of about 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi).[2] At its widest point, it stretches about 1,100 kilometres (684 mi) from east to west across the border between South Australia and Western Australia.
xx Rowena
Interesting how their fates intertwined.
It looks much like the plains in Colorado and New Mexico. Thanks for sharing a spot of the ever intriguing land known as Australia.
Really liked how you interwove two life stories. I also enjoyed learning more about a continent that I once expected to visit
Thank you very much, Michael. I am quite a fan of Jonathon Livingstone Seagull’s and I also heard the Sparrow Song by The Seekers as I wrote it. The story started off as a person and goodness know how she translated into a bird. You know how it is. These stories take on a life of their own in the end.
Any hopes of visiting Australia still? It’s a wonderful place and unlike the wildlife, we don’t bite.
xx Rowena
I didn’t take the photo and it’s definitely been taken somewhere like that. I’ve never been to America and although I always set my flash fiction in Australia, I did attempt to set this one in California but I had no local knowledge and couldn’t get my head around it and decided to stick with what I know.
BTW I’m off on a mission tonight. I’ve become a dog rescue volunteer and will be bringing home 2 border collie x Kelpie pups. We may keep one. We’ll just see. As you know, my friend’s been doing this and knew we might be interested in adopting one of these and this way we can try before we buy…or send them on. They’re 8 weeks old. I’ll be posting tonight or tomorrow so stay tuned. I’m very excited and a bit apprehensive. I’m also hoping Lady has some maternal instincts. Who knows? She’s been sleeping a lot and this could be a form of shock therapy.
Take care xx Rowena
I hope they’ll live happily together ever after.
A cleverly woven tale. Excellent.
Click to read my FriFic
Good story, Rowena. Imaginative use of the prompt!
Good story. Hope their paths cross for mutual benefit? Jack needs to stop and the bird needs a ride home.
Wonderful story. Well done! :o)
Love the imagination here, Rowena. Cheers, Varad.
I was sympathetic right away, but when you gave the bird a name? Got me right by the throat 🙂
Thanks very much. I thought you’d appreciate a poem I wrote as a 22 year old when I was dumped in Paris. That’s where the Chirpy Bird made it’s first appearance: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2016/12/08/poem-welcome-to-the-yellow-house/
Hope you have a great weekend and aren’t affected by any of the natural disasters. The damage is horrific. xx Rowena
Thank you very much, Keith. Hope you’re having a great week.
xx Rowena
We are completely out of the path of Hurrican Irma here in Pennsylvania, and of course the one in Houston doesn’t affect us. The fires out west are a long way from here. But we do have friends and family all across the country, and our prayers are for their safety. Thank you so much for your concern–And I love your poem 🙂
I have become quite close to many Americans through my blog, but I’m not quite sure where they are or how where they live fits into things I hear about in the news. This new proximity certain makes events on the other side of the world, much more real. These aren’t just random numbers being affected, but people.
I hope and pray all your loved ones are okay and get through this with minimal damage.
Thanks for your appreciation of the poem. Much appreciated!Best wishes and God Bless, Rowena
Noice one. I think Chirpy Bird just saved a tired driver. Nullarbor needs a song to go with it, here is one by singer that I like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy0LsznX59A (lyrics here https://tinyurl.com/nullarborsong)
Thanks so much for sharing Casey Donovan’s song. I’ll have to listen to the song tomorrow, but I read through the lyrics a few times, and they formed such strong visual images and brought back such memories. My uncle is Aboriginal and I’ve been out bush with him and my aunt in WA. Camp fire is amazing, especially out on the Nullarbor so far away from the urban landscape and and just you and the stars. Magic. xx Rowena