Day 6–Character Building-Blogging U–Writing 101

Day 6  Prompt: Who’s the most interesting person (or people) you’ve met this year?

Day 6 Twist: Turn your post into a character study.

I must confess I could not recall the person which captivated my interest this year.  In light of my lapse in memory I created a character from my imagination.  I hope you enjoy him and I hope it meets the criteria of  the assignment Character Study.

A Character of My Imagination:

I can still hear his laugh.  Gravel rubbing against his throat, raw from smoke, overpowering the sound of the wind. When I close my eyes I see his wild hair, untamed, uncombed flying free in the wind blowing across the prairie.  Large eyes, painted blue from the sky, filled with salted water as he considered his options.  Hands, rough from cutting, carving, shaping and sanding, cradled a small bird gently, sharing his warmth with the tiny body.  Confused, the baby peeped continually as he carried it away from the carnage that was its’ mother. Food for foxes, the mother diverted the predator from her burrow, protecting this one and only fledgling.

Later when the baby grew into its wings, he would carry it on his square shoulders.  Sweaters, crafted from clean, undyed wool, kept the cold at bay and gave the bird a soft seat.  Inseparable, he held his feathered friend in high esteem.  His voice rumbled on about the day, where they were going, what they were doing as the owl nodded its’ head, rolled its eyes and chippered as if it understood every word.  Bits of meat, raw before cooking, were held out as treats, grabbed by the beak and gobbled down quickly. . The rest was turned into sandwich fillings, stews or meaty soups.

At nights on the bench, built from pine, he would sit, contemplate the world, smoke home rolled cigarettes and watch the owl as it flew hunting its’ dinner.

The last time I saw him, he was raising a maul splitting wood, the owl sitting on a branch above watching his every move.

The owl now sits alone on the bench waiting for that voice, that shoulder those hard hands full of love to reach out to gently caress his feathers.  I see him in my dreams or hear his laugh when the wind blows wild.