Character Development

Sad songbird sits lost in cognizance on his own porch. This is his grandfather’s home - well it was until ole G-paw collapsed on the dining room floor and never woke up. Now it’s owned by his squabbling offspring, each with equal yet dividing shares; but somber sparrow is the only relative romantic enough to perpetuate its memory. Seldom separated from smoldering smoke fumes that encircle his face as he fades beneath his words, hallowed acoustic guitar in both hands, a chemical-rich cigarette sags with his lower lip, clinging while he croons. He writes about her like she went out for groceries and hasn’t made her way home yet. She left 4 years ago and moved on without hesitation, coupled together in polluted cahoots alongside his best friend of 3 decades who was coincidentally living with them while “getting back on his feet” after the booze & Quaalude binge found him friendless, jobless, and homeless.

Reluctant wren remembers that day everyday. His wife slithered the halls into their conjugal shower, flagrant and blatant, indecent syrupy silence begging to unveil her calculated manipulations. Her mobile phone pulsed whisper vibrations cloaked under couch pillows – the same sofa perhaps better known as – cryptic crow’s colleague since childhood’s current crash pad. As head of household and bearer of all broadcasts he shuffles and sifts amidst the soft cotton cushions for her deliberately disguised device. “Ah, here we go, found it!” En route to deliver the encrypted cellular contents, an innocent tilt unexpectedly reveals its passionate dispatch:

“Can’t wait to savor another slice of that afternoon delight. Hahaha…”

Parasitic partnership; cuckold in his own home. Shell-shocked seagull’s disoriented mindset amends the sender surname: ‘Sincerely, that slick snickering serpent on your sofa.’

            Melancholy magpie’s strawberry curls bounce with the thunder of his infectious roaring laugh. He roosts there on that terrace strumming away, driven by conditioned addiction. His ruddy red beard and baby blue jade jean eyes twinkle behind Costco bought whatever-brand wire rimmed lenses, worn gaze thick with wisdom. An intentional advocate for rearranged abundance through selfless frugality, unwavering acceptance of this existence, including the very “family” who religiously mishandle his heartstrings – even the grimey unethical street demons embrace him as an elder. They marvel at his ritual madness in confused pursuit of the grit that keeps him going.