Henrietta was sick of it!
The suffocating insistence of her parents that she knock constantly, ceaselessly and mercilessly for her poor sore beak. For what? She asked herself.
"You're a woodpecker, you peck at trees creating a knock... It's what you are expected to do"
Henrietta mocked her Father's monotone single faceted argument.
"My Father was a knocker, my Father's Father was a knocker ALL of our ancestors were knockers, Grandfather Walter on your Mother's side was a champion knocker 3 years running!"
Henrietta had other plans, she knew exactly what she wanted from her life. She wasn't going to waste her time, walloping her beak against a tree just to do what was expected from her for the sake of the family name.
"Knock like this" she said "Peck like that" mocking her knocking tutor from when she was just a chick, the bombastic Ms Tippytap. She knocked exaggeratedly like a bizarre parody of one of those 1970's headbanging heavy metal stars. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she contemplated a life being less than she knew she could be.
"Oh your Fathers just thinking of you my dear, he wants you to have an easy life, being different isn't any fun, you know!" Said her Mother Hortensia. You know something, my Mother always had a saying for times like these:
"No matter how much he tries a sparrow will never be a canary"
Henrietta was always bemused at her Mothers efforts to be helpful. She really loved her parents so much and wouldn't want to do anything to make them disappointed in her. Suddenly a plan struck her and she smiled knowingly.
She would invite them round to her place and prepare them a nice meal, normally she would go with something simple like mealworm but this time it was to be something very special. She prepared Bombyx Mori and Bombyx Mandarina served on a bed of white mulberry leaves. Silk moths and silk worms were her Fathers absolute favourite delicacy in the entire world.
The evening arrived and her parents were finished eating and with no small measure of trepidation, she realised it was now or never actually she also realised if she didn't take the leap now it would probably be never!
Henrietta stood in front of her parents and cleared her throat importantly. Henry and Hortensia shuffled nervously and wondered what was to come... Henrietta opened her beak wide and started to sing the opening strains from her Father's favourite operatic aria, the most beautiful, spellbinding sound filled the air, the hair on both her parents necks stood on end as they realised with heart-swelling pride that their Daughter Henrietta was destined to be a star...
The moral of the story? Oh I'm glad you asked Dear Reader: A sparrow must never try to be a canary...
Wow @stevenwood, what an imagination, very good story, good luck.
Haha. I actually really enjoyed writing this, the longer it went on the more fun it became. When I read it back to myself afterwards I was very happy with it. Mostly I am disappointed with the flow of my words, but for once I was pleased lol.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. Have an awesome day :D
Also @stevenwood, have a happy day, I hope I have an imagination like yours, but I will try .. ha ha
Your imagination is like any other muscle in the body. In the beginning it is capable of a little, when you start to use it more and more it can begin to surprise you.
When it is used a lot for a long period of time, it becomes strong and eager to take on any challenge :D
Start to get creative with your thoughts and see where the adventure takes you! I know you are capable of greatness if you choose to become great. :)
Highly Imaginative ! Great Story
Thank you so much my friend, great to see you here again :D
I had a lot of fun with this, I think I may try my hand at storytelling a little bit more, it was very satisfying :D
Singing opera! Of course that is what she is doing. I need to listen more closely!
You have out done yourself here, my friend!
!ENGAGE 50
Hey Melinda. I am away from home right now in a hotel with the worst wi-fi on the planet! So am not getting to respond as well as I would like or even as soon as I would like lol. Thank you so much for the fabulous comment, just know that I enjoyed writing this massively, when I wrote the opning line I had no idea where the story would go.
Once I was flowing I loved the framework and tinkered with it a few times but when I read it back I bloody loved it haha. Once I am home I will be visiting the other entrants to give some feeback and engagement. I will also respond to a couple of comments from yourseelf that need answering.
Have the Sunday you would most hope for my friend, we will cross paths soon :D
ENGAGEtoday.!ENGAGE 50
Absolutely fantastically written response. The English teacher in me is giving you an A+.
Off to let my chickens out of the coop. I will tell them this advice to guide their day. One does think she's a rock star, so it's appropriate timing. Always good to knock a bird off her high perch with a wise avian idiom.
The spookiness is palpable!
Elsewhere, I was just saying to Melinda that I enjoyed writing this so much I am going to try my hand at a children's story. This has long been something I wanted to attempt, however I have always been terrified of my appalling grasp of punctuation but the actual creation of the narrative was deliciously satisfying.
I am now of the mind, 'what's the worst that could happen?' ((apparently I could also be on course for an A+!!!)) :D
I am wondering if the chicken is also named Henrietta? Hmm... D- for that, I accept it without question, hesitation or protest. Thankyou so much for that feedback, it gave a tangible boost to this poor, self-conscious British-dude!
The other spooky aspect is that as you were writing this comment I was writing one on your awesome recipe post, with the amazing
blackpurple kale. :DSpoooky, hahha! Have you encountered @vincentnijman? He's writing a children's story too. I think you'd be amazing at it. Find an illustrator here on hive and you're good to go!
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.