Allegory, or How I tried to write a children's story

Allegory : an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor. 2:fable: a short moral story (often with animal characters)

Marcella was a bubbly sparrow. She spent her days flitting about from tree to tree, picking berries and fruits to fill her hungry stomach. Some day's she would prefer berries over the fruits, some times she would prefer the fruits over the berries. It always depended on what she could find that day, or sometimes she followed her taste. Sometimes it was a combination of the two. Oftentimes, some of the berries and fruits that she ate would make her sick, and would lie in her nest with a terrible tummy ache. She would swear off the berry or the fruit that made her sick that day, and would only ever eat one or the other for a length of time. One day, she met James, a sallow and sullen faced vulture with a less than bubbly predisposition. James was not liked for his nature, being that he had an ugly face and and was generally a harbinger of very bad things. His lot in life made him sad, for though he was a vulture, he had a heart of gold and longed to be in the company of other birds.

James met Marcella one day while she was flitting through the woods. At first he was reluctant to approach her due to his visage. Marcella was not afraid of him however and playfully flew circles around him and nipped him in his wings. She sang him songs which made him happy to hear. James had not experienced such feelings of affection before, and spread his wings to fly with Marcella. He would pick only berries for her, seeing as that was her favorite at the time. He picked the best berries, the most sumptuous kind. He did not take any for himself as he did not like berries but gave them all to Marcella as he did not want her to go hungry. And for a time, it was good, both sparrow and vulture flying about in the air, without a care in the world

One day James brought Marcella some blueberries which were her favorite. Or so she had told him. She did not want to eat his blueberries but wanted fruit instead. James could not find the fruit that she wanted and Marcella, seeing that James could not provide, flew to be with another Sparrow who had fruit and sang different songs for that sparrow. James was heartbroken, and he promptly flew alone, in search of the dying, as nature had warranted him to do so.

James had not seen Marcella for a long time. He had not forgotten her however. And he missed her singing. One day, while flying past the spot they met, he saw her again. She had a tummy ache again. She said she had eaten a lot of fruits and that they made her sick. She looked sadly at James and asked if he had any berries with him, for she was hungry for berries again. James had taken pity on her and plucked for her the blueberries that she had rejected earlier. She ate the berries and she was well again. However, James had grown even more sallow and gaunt while they were apart, and he stank of dead meat and carcass. Marcella did not want to be with him and although she was thankful for the berries, she flew off again.

James was by now a full fledged vulture, he disregarded other birds and he only ate the dead. He was shunned by the other birds and he in kind them. He hung around with his other vultures, looking for the dead, or if nature were particularly cruel, the dying and watched and laughed as they fell dead, for he could now eat them.

One day while lazing in the sun, James saw Marcella try to eat a berry. However the berry tasted sour and she spat the berry out. She flew around trying to find another berry to eat but could not find any. Then she spotted James and flew to him. She pecked his wings again playfully and asked if he again had any berries. James, his vulture heart empty but for that tiny spot for Marcella, said he did not but would find for her if she waited. Marcelle hopped and chirped happily for James' berries and promised to wait for him. She sang him the songs that he loved to hear. James flew very far to get Marcella the berries, for though he did not want to admit it, he was still very affectionate for Marcella and wanted to get the best berries for her. He wanted to hear her singing again. When he found the berries James flew back to where Marcella promised to wait for him but she was gone. At that moment, a hunter saw James and shot him out of the sky.

One day Marcella was looking for berries again but could not find any. She did not want fruit as the last one she had had given her a very bad tummy ache. She thought of James, how he had always brought her the yummiest berries. She flew around for hours, looking for James, but she could not find him. She looked around desperately for him, singing songs that he liked, chirping his name again and again. But alas she could not find him. She began to lose hope when she suddenly saw some berries on the grown. She was so hungry and swooped down to get them, but when she did a net dropped on her and she could not fly away. She was kept in darkness for a long time, given only seeds and powdered berries to eat. When she finally saw light again, she was in a cage, with curious human eyes about her. They pushed the caged and shouted at her to sing. She was sad. Her freedom was lost, her berries were lost. Her James was gone. She sang sad songs from then on.

Story is not based on any one person, but a composite of many.