Here’s the pic, What’s the story? (1-24-21)

 

#1

Miss Muffet never meant to insult any of the characters in the nursery rhymes, including the friendly spider who frightened her all those years ago when she was eating her curds and whey.  The nursery rhyme writers and collectors, including Mother Goose, just did not write down the rest of what happened.

As it turns out, the spider was just a surprise to her, to whom Miss Muffet over-reacted and Mother Goose made famous—or infamous, depending on your point of view.  And most points of view were limited to the one scene and left all the viewers to assume that Miss Muffet was either arachnophobic or that the spider had ill intent towards her after all.  

And this belief was passed down to many readers and listeners over the years since no one completed the story with any other rhymes to report what happened next, more’s the pity.

In the character-world, a great deal of resentment against Miss Muffet built up. So when Miss Muffet went on a whim to visit Tweety Bird one afternoon,  not only did Tweety Bird panic, but he also had no intention to be taken advantage of by this presumptuous invader who came unexpectedly to his cage.  

Tweety Bird quickly dodged around the Miss Muffet—who evidently is only quick around spiders—and managed to push her into the cage and even locked the door, trapping the dull-witted girl behind the bars of the cage, to deal with her later.  

Meanwhile, Tweety Bird took a rest and started some research on this upstart Miss Muffet, to figure out what the next steps should be.  Unfortunately for Miss Muffet, the only reference to her was in the nursery rhyme book and that just did not provide much information.  To someone as paranoid as a skittish canary, the worst was to be expected and assumed, so no matter how much she whined, Tweety Bird was not letting her out.

As yet, neither Mother Goose nor anyone else have come up with any appropriate rhymes to resolve the situation and so there we are...one new, awkward picture in the book and imaginations just running wild, coming up with all kinds of crazy stories....

By Cary Holmquist.

#2

Groggy but awake—I guess, my eyes were open—I looked around; I could see nothing. A dense darkness encased me. Unsure of where I was and why I was where I was, I cautiously knelt, then stood. The My heart begin to thump rapidly and forcefully in my chest. I closed my eyes again and saw a strangely familiar image of a big, yellow bird sitting in a straight-backed, powder-blue chair.  This was no ordinary bird—orange legs with knees?—obviously a costume, but why? It held an open book in its lap and was glaring menacingly—no looking impassively—condescendingly, maybe, at—a woman kneeling in a cage? Was it reading to her? What would the title be? Perhaps “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Her expression seemed to say, “Seriously?”

The image was so vivid that it didn’t seem to be a dream.  I didn’t recognize the woman.  Was she the bird’s prisoner?  Was she a case study in its research?  Was this an episode in a sinister plot of an evil mastermind hoping to conquer the world?  Was the bird costume because a poly juice potion went wrong?  

Warily, I opened my eyes again—one at a time.  The image was still there only now it was as if I were part of a scene in a stage play. So far neither the bird nor the caged woman had noticed me.  Motionless and still in the shadows, I forced my eyes to roll slowly side to side scrutinizing every little detail.  Problem was t here weren’t many; the wood floor was bare; the blinds on the only window were closed; the latte colored walls looked freshly painted; the top of the cage was askew and I wondered if she stood up: would it come off...

I studied the woman and the bird looking at each other, expectantly, waiting for one or the other to break the spell with a word or even an eye roll or a breath.  Nothing happened, not a muscle twitched. And then, Eureka!  That was it!  This was a freeze frame.  In my college days I studied this phenom a bit.  I was certain that my presence in this place and time was to solve a riddle or a mystery of some sort.  

Any movement I made, any word I uttered would send this story off in a certain direction.  I had to determine if the woman was in any danger.  Would I need to rescue her.  Perhaps she had been the source of the situation and the bird was protecting itself.  So many options—each with a different ending. But which one was right? Best?

If I closed my eyes, I was sure the image would remain and I could walk through my options and envision the results of all possibilities. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I could leave it as it was; it wouldn’t remain as it was until I made it change.

The only problem was that it wouldn’t go away—it was as if this was all there was. I couldn’t see the past and the future was up to me.  Still...

I probed my memory...A bright flash..a beam of light, strange unearthly apparitions...ALIENS!  Abducted! and now the object of an observational study..  

By: Colleen Holmquist

#3

Tweety has been Marjory’s feathered friend for 5 years. For a human, Marjory is not terrible, she has always kept the cage clean, water and seed on hand. She loves to settle in in the evening reading aloud to Tweety from all her fantasy favorites. The most recent story Marjory read was “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. As Tweety listened to the story, she closed her eyes and joined Alice in that fantastical place: Wonderland!

Tweety opened her eyes to a whole new world! The place was familiar but with a little twist. First off, she was the size of Big Bird from Sesame Street, and rather than being her her roomy cage, she was seated in a comfy arm chair. The very chair where Marjory sat to read nightly. Marjory?! Where was Marjory? Tweety swiveled her head and found Marjory cramped into her former abode. She did not look nearly as happy as Tweety was to have swapped places.

Lying on the floor near the chair was a book, Tweety extended her wing and was able to grab the book. How amazing, she had never been able to do that before! She ruffled the pages and the book fell open, her bird mind could now comprehend the words and she began to impart the story to her long time companion of how a simple tweety bird had been transported to a magical land...

Tweety jerked awake to the sound of seeds being refilled, alas she was once again small and in the cage. What a great dream that had been, or had it been a dream?

By Grammie

By Grumpa

#6

"You've heard of of shark cages, right? All the safety, with the thrill of being surrounded by dangerous creatures. Now picture... the bird cage!"

With a dramatic flourish the salesperson had savor his arms dramatically at what did indeed look like a large bird cage. Oh well, their other plans had already fallen through, why not try something new this vacation?

Kristine sat there in the cage as it lowered slowly through the dark. She could see light below, but not much else. It was getting brighter as she went. Kristine pictured what could be the end of this. She started picturing ostriches in stride dashing around her, or what about swooping hunting eagles, even a spectacular flamboyance of flamingos.

The circle of light slowly approached as she lowered, then she dropped through it and saw...a living room. A decidedly plain living room. To her right there as a huge bird sitting in an easy chair quietly reading a book. The bird slowly turned its eyes her way, blinked, looked back at the book, and went on reading.

Sighing, Kristine flopped down on the floor. She was definitely going to need a refund.

By: Aaron Leavitt

#7

Sara’s reality shifted for the 5th time this week. As she began to become lucid and aware of her surrounds found herself trapped. It appeared to be a giant cage made of metal. Not too giant she realized as she could not stand and was crouched in a rather uncomfortable position. She blinked rapidly five or six times to clear her mind and adjust to this new environment. The next thing that appeared in her vision, was a very large bird like creature that resembled a man. He was sitting in an over stuffed chair with a book opened in his lap. His unseeing eyes were large and unmoving. Great, the reality I was still awaking. That gave her what, 10 of the usual fifteen minutes to get out fo the cage and the house before the bird man would come alive once more. Searching for her ever present lock pick, AKA Bobby pin, she discovered the lock was not latched. Sara forced open the cage door and went to stand, but her legs balked and refused to straighten...how long had this shift taken anyway, she wondered as she crawled on hands and knees to the exit. Just as she reached the door, she saw that Birdie (she had in her mind already named him) was beginning to stir. Sara’s hand reach the know just and he scream at her presence. She push the door outward and fell down the entryway steps.

Upon hitting the bottom, Sara’s legs decided to be kind and she stood, a bit shakily at first, but with in seconds, muscle memory kicked in and she was strolling down a wide city sidewalk peopled with the most interesting, to-date, denizens she had seen in any dimension. They were all animal in form, but had very human characteristics, kind of like animals personified.

Well, she thought, this should make spotting her quarry a bit easier. Simeon was, after all, all human and carrying a rucksack holding the Dimensional Stabilizer Crystal. He had stolen it from headquarters all those days ago, and though they were only 5 so far, with as many shifts in reality it felt more like months. Sara didn’t know his designs on the crystal, all she knew was she had an assignment to accomplish and she wasn’t about to fail. She continued down the road, becoming more and more aware of the sore thumb she was as the animal-people, animapeople, stared, gasped and gawked. Just then, she saw a rainbow shimmer, brighter that the pale pink of this planes sunshine. It was just ahead of her. This was a rainbow that couldn’t be duplicated and was definitely that of the stolen stabilizer! She had him! This was it! Then one of the more fearful of the crowd noticed Sara for the first time and screamed as if some one had just stuck her with a knife! Everyone stopped and turned to see what caused the frightful noise, including, much to Sara’s dismay, Simeon. Their eyes locked for one brief moment and then he was gone. Left in his place was the tell tale sign that some one had used a personal dimensional shift plate. Sara’s only hope was to make it to the shifting wavering air that could pull her through as well. She knew in just a matter of seconds the portal would shut and she would have to wait for headquarters to sen her on in 20 hours. Sara took a risk and launched herself to toward the dimensional doorway...

By : Ryanne Leavitt

#8

Now I am going to tell you the story of how things got this far. I was once a normal chick. My mother was a beautiful soul who taught me that to be a good chicken is to not lose your head. She also taught me that the humans provide but they can so easily take away. To survive this life, we must sacrifice eggs sometimes. I took the things that she taught and applied them into my life as I grew up. 

   Growing up I never knew my father. Apparently, he was a real…well, you know. Always flaunting his stuff everywhere but never time for us. My mother was my best friend. Sometimes it felt like we were the same chicken. Till this day I remember her beautiful brown feathers.

   One nights we heard footsteps coming toward our coop. Which we shared with four other hens. When Farmer Ted popped up the roof. This was unusual, we normally expect him in the morning to collect the eggs. Next thing I know his eyes are locked on me. Reaching down before I had the opportunity to run in one swoop, he catches me. I yell out to mother, begging her to do something. The tears in her eyes, made me realize there is nothing to be done.

  Heart racing, I analyze the situation. Where am I going? My egg number were good. Then out of no where I was put into a box. I did not recognize any of the other chickens I was with. This chicken farm was big and spacious. After what seemed like an eternity. There was a glow from up above. Trying to adjust to the brightness I see two figures dressed in white with these weird blue things over their eyes. None of mothers’ teachings helped prepared me for this. Little did I know what was to proceed was the worst/ best thing to ever happened to me. 

  Everyday we woke up same time. Our living conditions were no where near as cozy as home. Metal walls with straw is what we now called home. I was never with any other chicken. This chicken farm was so lonely. I don’t know what they were trying to do. All I know is they hurt me. We would feel them pinch up with some pointy things. Months and months go on and nothing happens. It was the same routine. It felt like it will never end. 

    One day I after the daily pinch. I feel something change inside. Was this end? Was it finally my time to leave this wretched place? Were my eyes deceiving me. Everything around me was getting smaller. The humans were shocked at was taking place. WOW! The world wasn’t getting smaller. I was getting bigger. My tiny chicken legs were almost human like. The human they put something in me to make this way. 

    Now was the time to act. Some of the other chickens were talking about an escape plan. All failed just when the thought they were free. The humans would catch them and bring them back. This was the way. I mustered up all of the fight in me and lunged at the pesky humans. Bawking as loud as I could.  They ran away with fear. All the adrenaline in me, had me at a high. Struggling to walk I looked for the pointy things. If I wanted to get out of here, I need back up. I injected my fellow chickens. With this newfound ability we were able to learn English (apparently that is how the humans communicated). Weird, I know. This period is known now as the beginning of the rise of the great chicken uprising. 

    We forced the humans in to making more of this serum. We gave it to every chicken in the world. Our number overruled the humans. Sadly, I never had the chance to see mother again. By the time I found her she had passed away. But since word spread about the uprising, she knew that I helped start it. And was so proud. That is the beginning of the great poultry empire. Good Night Karen.

 By: Vanessa & Hokan Holmquist