When the starlings blot out the sun, in a black thundercloud of ten thousand…
The young folks smiled and danced on the beach. They were used to the blind man’s crazy talk. He was so old now that he had outlived his children, and none of them had had children. He was all alone, with his bowls of shells and beads.
That’s when we must leave! Leave the island quickly! Make preparations…
“You don’t think Benji actually knows anything, do you?” Liana asked her boyfriend as they cuddled on a blanket.
Ken laughed. “Nah. He’s been saying stuff for years. Said a great wave was gonna swallow us up back when my sister was born fifteen years ago. And here we all are.”
Liana relaxed and drank more wine. “Okay. I guess he’s just sad he has no family.”
“Yup. So, he tries to get attention through his nutty omens.” Ken kissed her. “Don’t think about that stuff anymore tonight.”
She didn’t. But the next morning she visited the old blind man at his hut. “Benji, I brought you some coconut bread. I’ll put it on your table.”
“Thank you. Come over so I can touch your face.” Benji sat on his customary mat, facing east, with his bowls in front of him.
Liana sat close enough so he could touch her. He lightly pressed his fingertips against her cheeks and eyelids. Then he nodded.
“I was thinking about what you said last night,” she told him. “There are a lot of birds in the sky this morning.”
Benji took a bead out of the bowl and licked it. Then he held it aloft. “It has begun. No one listened. Feel the earth.”
“I don’t feel…” Liana stopped talking. There was the slightest hum underneath her through the mat. “What is that?”
“Fire,” Benji said. “Would you like to leave? I have a boat. Or we can stay and join the gods.”
Liana stared at him. He sounded so calm. But at his age, maybe he no longer cared that much. “You were trying to save us all last night! You sounded different then!”
“I did what I could.” He shrugged. “Now, it’s just you, because you came here with your bread. You must choose, but quickly. The sky is darker, is it not?”
It was. The cloud of birds had doubled in size since Liana had left her house. “But my family! Ken… his sister…”
The ground shook and Benji stood up. Liana took the hand he offered and walked with him to the tiny boat he had tied behind his hut. He’d already stocked it with provisions. “You were waiting for someone to help you because you couldn’t go alone?”
Benji didn’t reply as Liana pushed the boat into the water. “Get in now,” she told him. “We’re all set to row out.”
“No,” he said. “The boat is for one. You will tell our story, Liana. You will tell it to the baby you carry. Now hurry away. There will soon be ten thousand birds.”
Liana looked up and saw the cloud had doubled again. She paddled away from the island, the only home she’d known. What if Benji was wrong? She would now seem like a crazy person running away in a canoe! And what baby? She stopped paddling and put a hand on her flat stomach. Sighing, she drank a little pineapple juice.
But as she drifted into deeper water, she saw the volcano erupt and her island home turn into an inferno, flames shooting into the sky hour after hour. And she knew that no one would survive. Benji had been right and nobody believed him. They’d all gone on dancing and drinking while he tried to save them.
As dusk fell, the fiery island turned into a red dot while Liana’s destination island grew closer. She didn’t know what sort of reception she’d find there, but she had no choice now. The black cloud had blotted out the sun and there was nowhere to go but forward on.
[to be continued]
~*~
Written for the Daily Echo
~*~
©️2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
A great story, Paula.
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Thank you 🙂
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WOW Paula. You are a GREAT writer. This story is brilliant. You had me hooked steaight away and I am not normally very goid at reading stories or longer pieces. I really loved this. Do you only write short stories ? Forgive me for not knowing. It’s just that I see this as a novel. It’s great.
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Thank you! I have written longer stories and novels. They are usually formula romances though. Not always!
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I can tell that you are able to write a novel Paula. Are your novels published? Where can I get them? You are a brilliant writer.
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Oh thank you so much! Yes they are on Amazon for Kindle under the name Anna Fondant.
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Brilliant. I will take a look 😊
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Wonderful story!
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Thanks so much!
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You are welcome!
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Great story.
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Thanks! 😻
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You’re welcome 😇
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Starlings can be some nasty birds. We had a nest in our back yard that was made in the gutter of our garage and all the baby birds flew away when they got old enough except for one that wouldn’t leave the nest. The mother finally kicked it out and it fell on the ground, still not able to fly. My Toy Poodle barked at it as it hopped its way to the front yard. All of a sudden, about forty birds came down from the surrounding trees and made a circle around the flightless baby bird protecting it from my curious dog. They would not let my dog get near it and it eventually hopped into some bushes and I put the dog back inside the house.
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Interesting! I didn’t realize birds were so complicated. Bad mom, then social services!
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Great story, Paula!
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Thanks! I’m thinking to continue it. I had an idea in the shower 🙂
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Pingback: The Murmuration ~ Paula Light #writephoto | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
This is great!
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome!
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Both historic and prophetic of what might come. I agree this could be the seed of a longer story. Well done!
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Thanks so much!
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Great tale, Paula!
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Thank you!
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Pingback: Liana’s Journey Continues [fiction 510] | Light Motifs II
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Pingback: Photo prompt round-up: Murmur #writephoto | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
Great story, nicely told and a great take on the writing prompt. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you 🙂
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