Turtledove

(Love/animals)

The sun was shining brightly in the meadows of the vale. The tree leaves shone with a brilliant green as they hung restfully in the still spring air. The rabbits scuffled amongst the growing grass, as the sparrows chirped for the seed in the fields.

High up in a large, luscious oak tree, that saw out to the far reaches of the meadow, sat perched on an overhanging branch, was a beautifully coloured Turtledove. Her name was Lia.

Lia sat proudly on her perch. Her head was held high, her feathers well groomed. She knew the colours on her plumage radiated far and wide with the sun’s dazzling rays.

As she waited, a male turtledove flew close by. He was flying crooked and wasn’t well kept. His name was Kai. Lia turned away from him in disgust. Kai’s face fell as he did not understand Lia’s resentment.

‘Had she not heard the stories?’

He flew over to her branch, and turned towards her on the far side of the hanging.

“Oh turtledove, turtledove, the prettiest my eyes have seen. I’ve flown here from a far orange grove, following stories of love. Why must you be so mean?”

“You look so rough, you’re covered in dust, you’re not very clean” replied Lia.

“Whatever the matter? Why always be dapper? Does beauty not rest in me?”

“I’m a queen on a boat, you’re a frog in the moat. What makes you think you could be my king?”

“You don’t yet know me, you don’t know how far I’ve come”

“If you’ve come so far, it won’t do you no harm to go farther” snorted Lia.

“Do you ever sit there and wonder, in your daydreams slumber, that when your king arrived, he may not look charming in your eyes?”

Lia turns towards Kai, who has moved steadily closer to her during the conversation.

“I have had many dreams of my fair prince, who will someday be my king” retorted Lia. “...and he didn’t look like you”

“Oh, but my dear, give me your ear, for what I say is true, that I am a king of my fair grove and I’ve came to take you for my queen”

“I shall only ask once, like at the end of the story. Will you be the queen, of a king from a far away grove?”

“Ha!” bellowed Lia “A king that looks like that? ...I don’t believe you, I’d rather be queen of the swamps”

“You break my heart, by keeping us apart” whispers Kai as a tear falls down his beak, and onto the branch below. “I was told stories of a prince finding his beloved princess, and believed them to be true”

Lia could only watch as Kai flew away, past the highest branches he climbed. Through the opening she could see a flutter behind him, and the sky became awash with the crimson coloured banners of the king from a far away grove, before disappearing, leaving Lia quiet and alone.