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Wednesday 2 November 2016

Glider and Mr.Green [Episode #3]

"Two feathers, please," the stout stall man murmured, his eyes were narrow and sharp and his face had a permanent look of disgust.

Currency in the parrot world was measured through feathers; the brighter the colour of the feather, the higher it was valued.

Glider handed the stall man two feathers and picked a bag of chillies.

"You get them for free?" Glider asked the disgusted man, "the chillies?"

"Aye," the stall man hissed in reply. "We all do,"

"There is a lot of money in the business," another man joined the conversation - his left leg seemed a bit limp. "Are you interested kid?"

"Of course!" Glider leapt at the opportunity. "If you could guide me."

"See that" the disgusted man pointed to a huge wooden box that lay at the end of the market. "Every morning, chillies are harvested from there."

Harvesting took place every morning when the stall men came to work. There were dozens of chillies in the box every morning and the stall man who appeared to work early had the advantage of picking the best chillies in the box.

"Where do they come from?" Glider broodingly asked.

"Been doing business for seven years kid." the disgusted man snorted."Never felt the need to know." After handing a bad of chillies to a customer, the disgusted man continued, "The chillies appear and we make our money - that's all I care about." The parrot counted the money in his bushy hand, the green in his eyes glowing.

The whole town seemed to be without town seemed to be without motion. Sleep had taken everything. The silence seemed akin to being deaf; not a single creature moved in the late hour. All life, all motion that filled the town during the day was all but drained during the night. Everything was almost lifeless: almost dead.

Curiosity kept him wide awake, alert to every movement and sound. The weak branches he perched upon barely supported his weight, as the leaves rustled continuously. He gazed at the sky. The black sky was slowly catching light; shades of blue started to appear on the horizon. He had been sitting there for five hours and his legs felt numb, his head felt heavy, and his body ached from sheer exhaustion, but he sat there adamantly. Glider peeked at the wooden box every now and then, but to his disappointment it just sat there empty. The appearance of the chillies was an unsolved mystery and Glider was simply too curious to let it go. He had to know, he had to find out.

"Maybe they grow within the box?" Glider tried to reason with himself, but upon closer inspection, found that there was no evidence to support his theory. The box showed no sign of chillies. Only a musty smell occupied it.

He was too tired now.

"It was a hopeless idea," he said, scolding himself. His eyelids had become heavy, and his head began to droop: sleep was conquering him slowly. Images started appearing in his head. Images of his mother, images of Mr.Green, and images of the stall men - all of their voices thundered in his head, al of their images twirling together, moving round and round inside his little head, He was about to fall form the branch when he suddenly snapped back into consciousness. He glanced at the sky which seemed blurred; shades of blue suspended.

Then, something peculiar caught his eye, something peculiar caught his eye, something that startled him. His eyes sprung open, his vision cleared, and his breathing accelerated.

"This can't be," he whispered in disbelief. It sat way beneath the sky, beneath the trees, but outside the vicinity of the cage. There was a figure - a parrot.

The international science committee of the parrot world had informed the parrot population that life did not exist outside the cage. That the trees outside the cage did not bear life, and that the parrots in the cage could not visit the Unknown without support. Further research into the Unknown had resulted in telescopes being formed and parrots were even launched into the Unknow, but little success had been achieved. Hence, another custom of the parrot community was to reject all theories that approved of life in the Unknown. Despite this belief, incidents of life being seen outside the cage were heard of, and the concept was beginning to catch the interest of many people.

Just when Glider was about to hail the silhouette outside, and abrupt bang captured his attention; it came from the wooden box. Turning to look at it, Glider saw it suspended in the air. Hir eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and his breathing accelerated once again.

The END

From Qalandar Shoor Digest - [NEUTRAL THINKING]

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