Other News Yesterday Special Edition - "The Garden Visitor" - a modern fable of an asylum seeker based on a true story.

 

 

The garden was wild, with ponds and grass and trees and flowers and bushes and butterflies and bees. Birds made their home in the garden. There were noisy wattle-birds and busy blackbirds, quiet pigeons and colourful Rosellas. 

There were honey-eaters, pardalotes, wagtails, finches, wrens, silver eyes and robins galore. Majestic king parrots and rowdy cockatoos visited.   

Bossy magpies, crazy choughs, naughty currawongs, ravens and mynahs came but were never allowed to stay. The garden was a safe place to stay.

The garden was green and friendly with lots to eat, drink and places to wash, sunbathe and hide.  There were no cats or dogs. Birds made nests, some tiny some large, to keep their eggs safe and warm. 

Hunters did not raid the nests as there were too many eyes and trouble a plenty for those who tried.  The garden was a safe place to stay.

One day the bush nearby started to burn.  It burnt and burnt for days.  The sky grew dark and smoke filled the air.  All the birds were afraid.  The stories of visitors were bad.   

Many trees had gone, grass was on fire, animals ran for their lives and birds took to the air. Burning leaves fell in the garden, wind blew wild; there was haze and trouble everywhere.  But the garden was a safe place to stay.

That day a young bird arrived.  It was sad, lonely and had barely survived. The bird had black, grey and white fluffy feathers underneath grubby colours.  It was thirsty and hungry.  “I can’t find my family”, croaked the young bird, “the fire is everywhere”. While it stayed on the ground birds flew around to stare.   

It was not of their kind but they knew the type and had nothing to share.  “Can I have a drink”, said the visitor, “and a rest over there?” A wattle-bird said, “yes but behave yourself, you’re not wanted here”.  The garden was a safe place to stay.

Soon, the fire stopped and the birds relaxed.  The sky turned blue and smoke left.  The smell of burning was still in the air but it was far away and the young bird stayed.  “It should leave”, chimed many birds, “we can’t let it stay; it will hunt our babies one day”.  

  

 

There was a great commotion as many birds argued about what to do with the visitor that nobody knew. The wattle-bird said, “Let it stay, I will make sure it learns our way”.  The garden was a safe place to stay.

The young bird grew big and strong.  Its feathers became darker, sleek and long.  It liked to take baths and preen in the sun.  The stranger became known to everyone.  It never found its family, never knew its kin but minded the garden and those who came within.   

It can be seen to this day keeping an eye on all who come and play.  It’s never far from a wattle-bird who kept the doubters away. “He’s my friend and we talk every day”, says the visitor who came to stay.  The garden is still a safe place today…

THE END