Epilogue

“Dad!” shouted the young boy, in his excitement. “I got one! I got one!”

“What’s all the commotion about?” asked his father, as the boy rushed towards him, carrying something heavy. It was the body of a magpie.

“I shot it, Dad. I really did! Killed it stone dead, with just one shot. I think it’s the rotten magpie who hurt Jenny. And I killed it!”

The boy held up the carcass of the dead bird for his father’s inspection. In spite of the profusion of blood which coated much of the plumage, it was unmistakable as a magpie. The head lolled, limp and lifeless near the ground, as the boy held on to the bird’s feet. The child’s stature meant that it had been unceremoniously bumped along the ground, as he had hurried towards his father. The man took the dead magpie from his son and inspected it closely.

“No, lad. This is not the one. Look here, this one’s still got both his eyes, though much good they’ll do him now. That bastard only had one, remember? Never mind, though. As far as I’m concerned, the only good magpie is a dead magpie. I’m sure that the world will be a better place without this one in it!”

And, so saying, the man swung his arm in an arc and tossed the inert body high into the air. The bright sunlight glinted on black, white and blue, as the bird’s carcass spiralled, before falling to earth among the undergrowth.

Discarded. Unwanted. And unloved.