Chit-chit-chit-chit
“The wagtail’s at it again.”
“’Tail!”
“Aw. Where’s the birdy, Izzy?”
“’Tail!”
“Noisy critter, isn’t it. Hasn’t stopped all day. No, don’t go out- Hon! Go get Izzy, would you?”
Chit-chit-chit-chit
“I don’t know, Meg. Some say wagtails are lucky birds. I wouldn’t mind a pair nesting at my house.”
“You can have mine.” I sip my tea. “Hon! You’ve got to stop leaving the backdoor open! Sorry, Jules. You were saying?”
Chit-chit-chit-chit
“Oh my- Hon! Izzy! She’ll get dive-bombed again!”
Chit-chit-chit-chit
“’Tail. ’Nake.”
“What?“
I don’t think I’ve run faster in my life.
Thank God for that wagtail.
This 100-word microfiction story was entered in Writing WA’s Love to Read Local – Flashing the Cover competition. The requirement was to write a story inspired by the cover of a novel of one of the featured Western Australian authors. ‘Djiti Djiti’ – Noongar for Wagtail – was my response to the cover of Helen Milroy’s novel, Willy-Willy Wagtail. Congratulations to the winner, Nicki Blake, whose work ‘Hidden Depths‘ was a response to the cover of Dervla McTiernan’s latest novel, The Good Turn.
You can read Nicki’s story here, and check out the other contestants (there were 103 of us total) here.
Thanks for reading! And don’t forget to support your own local authors.
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EMMA LOUISE GILL 