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The empowerment of identity and the bankruptcy of people-pleasing.
The Mynah bird longs to be special like the other animals but he is just a dull black bird. A snake suggests that he would be more popular if he tried to be like more the other animals and so the Mynah bird tries doing impressions. This proves very successful but soon he feels trapped by the ever increasing demands of his audience. He also attracts the unwanted attention of a hunter who captures and cages him. Only when he resolves to be himself, whatever the cost, is he released. He realises that, not only does he have his own song to sing, but that he can fly high above his problems and gain a greater perspective on life.
- The Mynah Bird in pdf format (on request only) - Power Point images to accompany the telling of the Mynah Bird story. - A special version of the Mynah Brd story for use with the Power point - shaded words are cues for the Power point clicks (on request only)
Word count : 2,711 Est. read aloud time : 19 minutes
I'm Martin Day. Please contact me about anything on this site. I will reply personally.
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'The Mynah Bird' by Martin Day The Mynah bird sat on his Acacia branch and sighed. He longed to be important; special. He admired the other animals from afar. Each one seemed to be distinctive – unique - special. Wolves that run, leopards that leap, bats that fly, whales that sing. All he ever did was hop from one branch to another: "Oh why is it that everyone is special except me?" "But you could be special too, if you could only be more like them," the voice came from above. The Mynah bird was embarrassed that someone had heard him bearing his heart and felt foolish to have thought it out loud. But this stranger seemed to understand his problem. He was curious as to whom this voice might belong to, but he could see no body to go with it. The voice sounded like it might be of some help to him. "But how could I ever be more like them?” he asked. "I am just a dull black creature." "Yes, dull and black won't get you far in life," came the reply, "and I see you don't have any hands either. It would be hard to make anything of yourself without hands." The Mynah bird’s spirits dropped lower still. It was like this new companion could read his mind. How true it was! Just then, the voice's body slipped into view, hanging from a higher branch like a kind of living vine. The Mynah shuddered. "But it’s no good sitting sulking," hissed the snake. "You need to pull your finger out!" He smirked at his own joke. "But you don't have any hands either," pointed out the Mynah bird. "Ah, but I'm special already. I don't need hands to make me special. I'm dangerous." He didn't particularly like the look of the snake, but it didn't look dangerous to the Mynah bird. With no hands or feet how could it be dangerous? He wasn't even sure how it was moving. "So what makes you so dangerous?" asked the Mynah. The snake's body started to slide forwards, whilst his head stayed still. "Watch out!" he hissed and threw his head forward with mouth open wide. The Mynah jumped with fright and nearly lost his balance. The snake stopped short and they both froze eyeball to eyeball. "No one survives a bite from a cobra," he whispered menacingly, and relaxed back again. "You're a cobra!?" gasped the Mynah shocked. "What makes you think that?" said the snake, smirking again. "You could have killed me with one bite," the Mynah flapped. "But I'm not even venomous." The snake smiled wide and toothless. "And I'm not a cobra. But I am special aren't I?" The Mynah bird sat with his beak agape. "You see, I'm special because when I put on my cobra face I can appear to be a cobra. And a cobra is special because of its bite." "Do you mean," asked the Mynah bird, "that you pretend to be something you're not?" He was starting to recover from his shock now. "You chose such ugly words," the snake scoffed. ... to be continued! The rest of this story is avialable on Kindle, both individually and part of The Animal Parables collection (paperback to follow later). Use the links (left) to buy from Amazon. Press the Contact button (right) to be sure to get updates. © M Day 9-May-2007
The Mynah bird sat on his Acacia branch and sighed. He longed to be important; special. He admired the other animals from afar. Each one seemed to be distinctive – unique - special. Wolves that run, leopards that leap, bats that fly, whales that sing. All he ever did was hop from one branch to another: "Oh why is it that everyone is special except me?" "But you could be special too, if you could only be more like them," the voice came from above. The Mynah bird was embarrassed that someone had heard him bearing his heart and felt foolish to have thought it out loud. But this stranger seemed to understand his problem. He was curious as to whom this voice might belong to, but he could see no body to go with it. The voice sounded like it might be of some help to him. "But how could I ever be more like them?” he asked. "I am just a dull black creature." "Yes, dull and black won't get you far in life," came the reply, "and I see you don't have any hands either. It would be hard to make anything of yourself without hands." The Mynah bird’s spirits dropped lower still. It was like this new companion could read his mind. How true it was! Just then, the voice's body slipped into view, hanging from a higher branch like a kind of living vine. The Mynah shuddered. "But it’s no good sitting sulking," hissed the snake. "You need to pull your finger out!" He smirked at his own joke. "But you don't have any hands either," pointed out the Mynah bird. "Ah, but I'm special already. I don't need hands to make me special. I'm dangerous." He didn't particularly like the look of the snake, but it didn't look dangerous to the Mynah bird. With no hands or feet how could it be dangerous? He wasn't even sure how it was moving. "So what makes you so dangerous?" asked the Mynah. The snake's body started to slide forwards, whilst his head stayed still. "Watch out!" he hissed and threw his head forward with mouth open wide. The Mynah jumped with fright and nearly lost his balance. The snake stopped short and they both froze eyeball to eyeball. "No one survives a bite from a cobra," he whispered menacingly, and relaxed back again. "You're a cobra!?" gasped the Mynah shocked. "What makes you think that?" said the snake, smirking again. "You could have killed me with one bite," the Mynah flapped. "But I'm not even venomous." The snake smiled wide and toothless. "And I'm not a cobra. But I am special aren't I?" The Mynah bird sat with his beak agape. "You see, I'm special because when I put on my cobra face I can appear to be a cobra. And a cobra is special because of its bite." "Do you mean," asked the Mynah bird, "that you pretend to be something you're not?" He was starting to recover from his shock now. "You chose such ugly words," the snake scoffed. ... to be continued! The rest of this story is avialable on Kindle, both individually and part of The Animal Parables collection (paperback to follow later). Use the links (left) to buy from Amazon. Press the Contact button (right) to be sure to get updates.
The Mynah bird sat on his Acacia branch and sighed. He longed to be important; special. He admired the other animals from afar. Each one seemed to be distinctive – unique - special. Wolves that run, leopards that leap, bats that fly, whales that sing. All he ever did was hop from one branch to another: "Oh why is it that everyone is special except me?" "But you could be special too, if you could only be more like them," the voice came from above. The Mynah bird was embarrassed that someone had heard him bearing his heart and felt foolish to have thought it out loud. But this stranger seemed to understand his problem. He was curious as to whom this voice might belong to, but he could see no body to go with it. The voice sounded like it might be of some help to him. "But how could I ever be more like them?” he asked. "I am just a dull black creature." "Yes, dull and black won't get you far in life," came the reply, "and I see you don't have any hands either. It would be hard to make anything of yourself without hands." The Mynah bird’s spirits dropped lower still. It was like this new companion could read his mind. How true it was! Just then, the voice's body slipped into view, hanging from a higher branch like a kind of living vine. The Mynah shuddered. "But it’s no good sitting sulking," hissed the snake. "You need to pull your finger out!" He smirked at his own joke. "But you don't have any hands either," pointed out the Mynah bird. "Ah, but I'm special already. I don't need hands to make me special. I'm dangerous." He didn't particularly like the look of the snake, but it didn't look dangerous to the Mynah bird. With no hands or feet how could it be dangerous? He wasn't even sure how it was moving. "So what makes you so dangerous?" asked the Mynah. The snake's body started to slide forwards, whilst his head stayed still. "Watch out!" he hissed and threw his head forward with mouth open wide. The Mynah jumped with fright and nearly lost his balance. The snake stopped short and they both froze eyeball to eyeball. "No one survives a bite from a cobra," he whispered menacingly, and relaxed back again. "You're a cobra!?" gasped the Mynah shocked. "What makes you think that?" said the snake, smirking again. "You could have killed me with one bite," the Mynah flapped. "But I'm not even venomous." The snake smiled wide and toothless. "And I'm not a cobra. But I am special aren't I?" The Mynah bird sat with his beak agape. "You see, I'm special because when I put on my cobra face I can appear to be a cobra. And a cobra is special because of its bite." "Do you mean," asked the Mynah bird, "that you pretend to be something you're not?" He was starting to recover from his shock now. "You chose such ugly words," the snake scoffed.
... to be continued!
The rest of this story is avialable on Kindle, both individually and part of The Animal Parables collection (paperback to follow later). Use the links (left) to buy from Amazon. Press the Contact button (right) to be sure to get updates.
© M Day 9-May-2007
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