Piercing Thoughts

‘See,’ said the kingfisher from a tree branch, ‘I was right. The earth is as flat as a pancake. I flew high and low and dived into every stream, creek, pond and even the rivers. Everything is flat, the bottom, the surface, the horizon, and it’s utter nonsense that you can fly round the world. Even for a quarter, travelling around the world is impossible.’

‘How do you know that?’ asked the fish, who had escaped from the kingfisher’s beak and didn’t like being taken for a fool.

‘See for yourself,’ said the kingfisher. ‘The bottom of the creek is flat, not bulging, not hollow, just as flat as a pancake. You can ask the heron too if you don’t believe me.’

'No, thanks. The heron and I aren’t on the best of terms. He’s always wading into my territory. Don’t you have any other proof? And what does that mean? Are we doomed?'

'You are', said the kingfisher, 'because, you’re prey and born to be eaten, that’s your fate.'
He dived down at breakneck speed. His beak pierced the surface of the water, but there was no fish to be seen.

Strange, the water seems empty; has all life vanished, and am I talking to that face mask on the bottom, the kingfisher wondered, as he shot upwards like a rocket. He couldn’t stay underwater for long.

Leaning forward, he perched on a branch, his wings half-spread, ready to dive. It was dead quiet. There wasn’t the slightest trace of even the faintest hint of a fish.

‘Are you all right?’ asked the jackdaw a few days later. ‘You look as if you’ve been given the cold shoulder.’

‘The earth is flat,’ said the kingfisher, ‘I’m sure of it.’

‘No idea,’ said the jackdaw, ‘maybe you should ask the carrier pigeon or the seagull; they both travel far and wide.’
He watched the kingfisher go, lost in thought. What did it matter what people said? As an animal, it was of no use to him. Round or flat, the earth was the earth, and good for shitting and perching on.

‘The Earth is flat,’ concluded the kingfisher happily after speaking to the seagull, who’d just returned from a voyage by ship and had nicked a map from the captain's cabin as proof, confirming what he’d always thought and, in passing, also mentioning that the earth’s temperature would never rise and that strange birds, just like polar bears, would overpopulate the world unless they adjusted their eating habits.

'There’s PFAS in the water; it gives you cancer and you won’t live long; the sea is big enough for everyone; and the ship has plenty to dive from', informed the seagull the little bird with the strange appearance, who behaved like an idiot.

The kingfisher had been thinking long and hard and felt himself growing weaker every day. It was clear there was a food shortage in his tummy; there was no choice but to do as the seagull had said.

Standing at the railing, he stared into the water when he saw something glistening as it passed by. There was no point in wondering whether it was tasty. His vision was blurred since longer, he dived straight down, shouting: The world is flat, and broke the surface right in front of a swordfish, which, without a second thought, swallowed the colourful meal whole. After all, it’s a case of eat or be eaten.

Materials - mixed media

• sketch pad- A5 - 130 gr
• Bue ballpoint
• watercolour paint - waterbrush

_{6.11.26
NaNoWriMo prompt: pierce
#ccc #story #artonsteemit #painting #creative #steemexclusive}