Bruny Youth Stories Prize

I dodge the bundle of green and red feathers surrounding me, salty air filling my tiny lungs. My mate, Echo, flies beside me. He sees me watching and chirps at me happily. I tilt my body to the side slightly, wings catching the air just right so I lightly bum the tip of my wing against his. Then I straighten out and dive as the rest of the flock does. The fresh, sharp scent of eucalyptus trees hits my beak, blurring out the salty ocean water. The decreasing small flock land on the tree branches of our favourite food- eucalyptus trees.  We land on ones near a Thunderpath; a long stretch of hard, smooth acrid-smelling stone. My wings fit neatly against my feathered body, Echo landing next to me and moving closer. “Tiring flight, hm? Nearly at the nesting sight though, Willow” He murmurs gently, starting to groom my feathers on my neck. I tilt my head down, welcoming the grooming. “Yeah. I don’t want to stay here. It smells bad. Plus, Monsters are around.” I reply curtly, my tiny muscles tense under all my fluff and feathers. Mini flashing suns light up the Thunderpath on top of large, yellow monsters. They carry that foul acrid smell as they move. They’re not very stealthy, they’re loud and large, not bothering to hide their presence as they stop at the edge of the forest. The flock flutters into chaos as a Tree-eater joins this flock of mechanical Monsters under us. Immediately Echo and I, and so many others, launch into the sky as the big jaws of the Tree-eater grind through the base of the tree I was just on. Panicked squawks fill the air as we all fly up, up, up. Trees clatter to the ground with loud boom’s. I hover in the air, panicking, looking around. Where’s Echo? “Echo!” I yell. I hear a soft, panicked chirp from down near the fallen trees. Immediately, I try to fly down. But the bundle of feathers flying up in the opposite direction I need to go- down- make it impossible to do so. Eventually, I’m forced to follow the direction of traffic. Minutes feel like hours, but eventually the flock spreads out enough for me to fly down the Monsters and Tree-eater. It’s too late. Grief and pain consumes my mind as I sit down on a low hanging branch near the flock of Monsters, but all I can see if their bright flashes of mini suns, no answering chirp to mine from Echo. Where’s my mate? I grind my beak anxiously, but, eventually, I accept the truth and spread my wings, slowly, and fly back up to join my departing flock as they fly further into the safety of Bruny Island.
Echo’s dead.
 

Winners of the Bruny Youth Story Prize will be announced at The Bruny Island Bird Festival on Sunday, the 22nd of March at 12 pm in the Adventure Bay hall. This prize is proudly brought to you by The Bruny Kids and Nature Project, led by Claire Boost and the Tasmanian Community Fund.