Bruny Youth Stories Prize

Their bright green and red feathers flash through the tree canopy, singing a beautiful song. It drifts down to the untouched sandy shores and blankets the blooming wattle. Their sound echoes through small beach caves and through the hollowed trees. It awakens something inside me, a sparkle of hope, that in the future this island will continue to grow, healthy and strong. I hear the wind whispering through my hair in soft waves, feeling like a cold feather against my cheek. The Izzy Bar glows in front of me as I breathe in one more earth-scented breath. In five hours, I can go home and relax again, sitting down with a cup of hot tea and a good book. I head around to the back door, walking in. Inside, there are empty boxes flattened and piled up in big plastic bins, empty milk crates holding sauce bottles and bags of flour on the shelves. When I enter the dining area, there are only three couples seated, but I begin - armed with my paper and pen - asking the questions that have been basically burned into my brain.
“Hello, can I take your order?”

My break takes forever to come, but eventually I find myself sitting outside eating a sandwich in the eucalyptus-scented breeze. A small chirping breaks the silence. In front of me stands a swift parrot, eyeing my sandwich eagerly. I pull out some birdseed from my backpack and place it in my palm. The parrot’s eyes open slightly wider in curiosity, making me smile. It cautiously makes its way closer. Staying dead still, I watch this endangered bird begin to trust me. Its beak is in my palm seconds later, eating only a few seeds before it flies back up to the trees. I now realise that the tiny bird only has one leg. The other is half a stub. I decided to name him Grub, hoping I might see him again. I sprinkle the last of the seeds on the ground for him as my watch beeps to notify me of the end of my break, and I head back inside.

Later at home, I discover a green feather lying perfectly on my doorstep. After taking it inside and placing it on the kitchen bench, there was a small tap at the window. I turn to see a swift parrot with only one leg. Grub had followed me home. His bright eyes seem to be urging me to let him inside. I open the kitchen window for him, but he quickly flies away. I sank onto my couch, disappointed. But a few days later, I noticed two swift parrots in my backyard, making use of the old gum tree with a hollow. I watched them make a nest and lay their eggs, which soon hatched. So while I watched the babies being fed and the sun setting that day, I made a promise to myself to protect these beautiful parrots and the amazing island they call home.

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.