Tanya, the glossy starling

Originally, the story was called Tanya, the red headed weaver, but according to my editor, only the male red headed weavers are predominantly brightly coloured.

Where the story began

I love fishing with friends and family, but although we enjoy catching fish, we also enjoy breaking away from society. We tend to cook (braai), camp and relax during these fishing trips. In the area we stay, we sometimes see birds hopping around on our horizontal rods while we fish. These are usually red headed weavers, but we also see their replicas, but in yellow at our bird feeder. If you read the book so far, you would have met the friendly feathered professor. I felt like writing an elaborated story about where the bird, a non violent or significant force, saves the day using intellect. I also wanted to create a story where a bird reveals a secret, based on them always seeming to be spying on everyone by sitting around. What if they're part of nature's communication network?

It is supposed to be a children's story that provides hope to children living in separated families. Pets provide the perfect trusted partner to help them through a changing environment. I added my kind of fantasy for fun.

Story summary

Peter is a boy who lives in a broken family. His father is a game ranger while his mother works in a corporate job. His mom, working many hours, found love closer to her workplace where she has to spend most of her time and divorces Peter's dad. They share custody, but they're hiding their emotions from Peter, who is deaf.

The majority of the time, Peter stays with his dad, and to help him transition through this new life, Peter received a puppy German Shepard called Timmy. They become great friends and share a special bond.

Peter's dad relocate them to a house in the Kruger National Park where he works, but Timmy doesn't adjust to the wild animals walking around their fenced residence. The hyenas taunt him daily and warns him that they're going to eat Peter after they had him as a snack. This causes Timmy to run away, thinking that if the hyenas can't get to him, they'll leave Peter alone. While planning to run away, Peter and Timmy are also taunted by a bird visiting them and looking friendly. Peter asks his dad to get a bird feeder and seeds so that he can feed the pretty bird.

Timmy runs away, and Tanya, the glossy starling, speaks to deaf Peter by telepathy and tells him what had happened. She noticed everything that was happening while sitting in a tree nearby every day. Tanya gets her flock to go look for Timmy and finds him quickly. Peter struggles to convince his dad and his nanny to chase after his beloved dog, following the direction of a bird only he understands.

They find Timmy and free him from a guy who captured and drugged him, while the hyenas are moved to a different camp.

They live happily ever after.

Dispute with the editor

Apparently, fictional stories are supposed to be based in the real world with the laws most of us experience in reality. As stated above, the story originally was about a brightly coloured red headed weaver, called Tanya. She said, as a bird watching enthusiast, that bright coloured birds aren't females, but the male gender of the bird world. I still needed the bird to be female as Peter could relate to a female entity better, so I changed the bird species to a Glossy starling which google told me could be found in the Kruger National Park.

My editor also was convinced that People would never be allowed to bring their pets to any National park, let alone feed the birds. I reckoned that since Peter's dad home was inside the Kruger National Park, he would get special privileges. I found guest houses in the Park that cater for guests with pets, so the information she had was flawed. Booking.com has 3 guest houses listed on their website that are pet friendly.

I did find that Glossy Starling birds don't prefer seeds, but I wrote the story in such a way that the bird doesn't eat the seeds, but doesn't reject it right away in fear of hurting Peter's feelings. It bring an emotional element to the story where Peter can relate to nature where his mom isn't always present to provide female-type support.

If you like to read the story, you are welcome to buy the book from our store page. It is available in eBook format at Smashwords, Amazon Kindle, as well as in a Print on demand paperback format at Amazon Paperback. In South Africa, I recommend buying from Takealot.