The Dizzy Bridge by Krista Hoeppner Leahy

Writers of the Future XXV

Lin, a young boy, has made friends with the town pariah, Brindisi--a pariah because of his unnatural arms. Lin beckons Brindisi to come see the giant peacock get hatched from its egg. Brindisi sees the bird is nothing more than illusionist and doesn’t understand why the people would be in awe of her and loathe him. But the boy is enchanted with her and the feather gifts she bestows on him, including the silver heart feather. Brindisi tries to hide his disbelief, but the boy sees.

The boy also sees that she is sad. For the boy’s sake, Brindisi goes to see what he can do. The bird woman immediately knows that Brindisi did not keep her gift to him. He offers to repair her birdbath, but that isn’t what she needs she says. As she gets more sickly, the boy sings to her so that she can fly to the next place.

Sweet tale, told in a voice that captures the sense and sound of magic. A rare ability, that. A few minor blemishes: the last paragraph and other over-explanations. Also, it’d be nice to see more of what Brindisi can do in this world. Still, the voice is an amazing accomplishment. Cheers to Krista that she may harness it to even bigger and brighter stories.