Swallows

A drabble.

The dappled egg we found beneath the walnut tree stuck in my throat. I had to swallow hard. Sammy lost the bet, reluctantly handing over his pearl-handled pocketknife. He almost cried; I wiped my lip. At bedtime, my mother kissed my forehead and asked me how my day went. I told her fine, then coughed up a feather. She laughed. “Did you eat a canary?” 

That night, I dreamt I could fly, and when I awoke, I was in the walnut tree. I cried out for my mother. She came out and banged on a pot with a spoon.

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This story was chosen as the winner of the April Micro Competition through Globe Soup. The prompt was “Egg.” There were over 450 submissions, and a good number of them were probably fantastic, but for whatever reason, my story resonated with the judges enough to get me the nod.

I’m feeling a desire to write an Oscar-esque speech, but I’ll just say this: Iron sharpens iron. We learn and grow and thrive together. And if someone comes at you, I’ve got this new pearl-handled pocketknife.

Best - Seany