Never a Swan

The Robins' Series - Part-Three
Day-Three "Dare to Dream" - Five-Day Fable Writing Challenge 
Shut Up & Write March Fable Writing Challenge:  Day-Three [Dare to Dream]:  Many of us can lose sight of our dreams as we grow into adulthood. It’s a shame that daily life can rob us of those aspirations, especially when we begin to forget we ever had those dreams in the first place. Today we are going to remind our readers to dream big. A modern fable that has this same theme is “The Salmon Who Dared to Leap Higher” 24 by Ahn Do-hyun. In this story a salmon dares to question his place in the cycle of life. Not only does he feel like he’s a little different from the other salmon around him, but he doesn’t just accept his fate: to grow up, swim upriver, and then spawn and die.It is a wonderful story that reminds you to resist the urge to blindly accept your lot in life, but to question your circumstances and dream for something better.
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​Baby Robin’s eyelids fluttered and his feet twitched as he dozed. He was having a glorious dream. He lazily floated on a tepid pond surrounded by bulrushes and cat-tails, glancing down to find an unrecognizable graceful reflection staring back at him. A seemingly endless curved neck disappearing into a lithe body coated with sleek white feathers gazed—unblinking—into his black eyes. He was startled by his beauty, as he lazily paddled webbed feet to explore the flora and fauna edging the water. A more elegant and feminine version of himself kept pace, as together they dipped beaks into placid water, causing a light swell of ripples and dimples. Minnows and sunfish scattered in their wake. He felt powerful with a lovely mate by his side and the fish fleeing as they spotted two pairs of webbed feet stroking, keeping time as if dancing, overhead.

With hooded eyes, he stretched out his neck to wrap and pull his mate in close for a little peck…then jerked back as a shadow-form swept down, jostling him. He was surrounded by ear-piercing chirps, perhaps the sound of crickets—very close—and bolted upright, now fully awake. Three hatchlings knocked and jolted baby Robin as they tussled and chirped in his ears, vying to get Mama’s attention. She was delicately perched on the rim of the love-nest with a fat squirmy worm dangling from her beak. 

Baby Robin stretched his neck forward—not long and elegant, as in his dream—instead short and stout. A solid blue-collar-bird’s neck. He joined his siblings (all four of them still pink, wrinkled and bald), as they tweeted with beaks open wide, ready to accept a meal from Mama. He may never become a swan (elegant, aloof and often alone) but he would always be happy with his band of Robin brothers by his side. Sometimes a dream was best left at that. Just a dream.
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By Lisa H. Owens
Inspired by a 5-Day Shut Up & Write Fable Writing Challenge
March, 2021 Day-Three [Dare to Dream]
​See: Love-Nest part-one
See: The Bird's Life part-two

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