In Lonely by Joanne Bentley we find out about the consequences of a hunting day that went totally wrong. After being accidentally shot at, a Trumpeter swan also loses his female companion, while their young fly on with the other swans: “In the morning, he awoke with a start, a jab of pain rising through his maimed wing. He locked around, and found himself alone.”
The locals, including the hunter, convince the Conservation officer to let the swan live, rather than put him out of his misery. The officer reluctantly agrees, but will the swan survive the year with an amputated wing and the winter approaching? Find out here.
Lonely by Joanne Bentley earned an Honorable Mention in the 2008 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition.(Lorian Hemingway is the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway.)
Joanne Bentley is a North Cowichan Bay-based writer.
