Sub-junior 1st Prize Winning Story - A Hungry Bird

“A Hungry Bird” by Federica Farina, Petranova International Institute, Italy, is the First Prize winning story in the sub-junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2020.

A Hungry Bird

Once upon a time there was a little sparrow named Cip. It was a birdie and lived in the nest together with its mom, dad and 5 brothers. Its feathers were small and soft, those of the chest were red, those of the wings were brown, those of the body gray. Cip and his family lived on the bell tower of a large church and his mother taught him to chirp following the rhythm of the bells.

Near the bell tower there was a building where an old lady who loved birds lived and every day, she put breadcrumbs on the windowsill for Cip and his family. One day the poor old lady fell seriously ill and died. Cip and its family, who relied on her for food, were left with nothing to eat.

Cip’s dad decided to go hunting for insects but unfortunately it found only 3 worms and they were 8. Therefore, it decided to feed only the little ones including Cip and 2 of his brothers. The hunt was not going well, the young one and its mother decided to peck at the windows for food, but people chased them away without giving them anything.

One day a baker to chase them threw a sack full of ashes at them and the birds all turned gray. The father had finally managed to find a place where there was never a shortage of food and he had returned to the nest with many worms and very happy, but he found no one. When the babies and their mother returned to the nest still dirty with ashes, the father, not recognizing them, chased them away. They did not give up and went to clean themselves in a nearby pond and returned to the nest chirping their favorite song to the sound of the bells. Dad recognized them and they ate all together in joy!

From that day on, the sparrow family learned to get food and not rely totally on others and there was no lack of joy from that nest.