The Writers Corner features poetry, essays, short stories, satire, and various fiction and nonfiction from SCAD Atlanta students. To submit your own work for the Writer’s Corner, email features@scadconnector.com

Talent.

In a lush green forest, where animals of all kinds live and travel. Among these skillful animals, the graceful flight of a sparrow can be seen, the strong jump of a frog from lily pad to lily pad, and the great strength of a bear tearing into a tree. Sitting on a fallen tree is a small gray wolf. Its eyes watch the other animals with envy of their skills, only wishing to be as skilled as them. 

After watching ‘til the sun began to set, the small wolf stretched its limbs and started to walk home. Following the path of tree roots and leaves, the wolf cub tried to find its home when a bright light and noises of laughter could be heard piercing through the dark canopy of forest trees and shadows. The wolf cub followed the sounds, curious about what was causing such laughter and happiness, and it came upon a cave with light flushing out of it in golden beams. As the wolf cub walked in it saw the backs of animals of all kinds, birds, alligators, bears, squirrels, and more all facing the same direction laughing. Full of curiosity, it squeezed its way through the crowd of animals, dodging the large paw of a bear as it slammed down in humor, ignoring the entrancing titter of the hummingbird, and the cub itself laughing at the tickled squirrels rolling on the floor. Only after reaching the front did the wolf cub see what they were laughing at, a monkey. 

The wolf, just like everyone else, grew enraptured at the monkey’s performance. He was dancing gracefully like the sparrow, showing great strength as a bear by breaking a rotten wooden plank, and showing great athleticism by jumping off the walls with legs just as strong as the frog. The wolf, seeing the monkey mimic all these various animals, shrunk in on itself and looked with eyes of envy. After the show ended and the animals all laughed their way out, talking about the great performance, the monkey noticed a particularly sunken wolf tail slowly dragging as it left.

“Hey little cub,” yelled the monkey.

The cub turned its head slightly at the sudden shout.

“Nobody leaves my show as blue as you!” The monkey laughed. He jumped and grabbed a vine growing on the roof of the cave, swung forward over the fire in the center of the cave, and landed deftly in front of the wolf cub. “Why so glum little wolf?”

The wolf cub turned its head back down, “You, who’s so talented, wouldn’t understand.”

“Hahaha, talented? You are mighty confused, my little friend.” As the wolf cub talked the monkey had begun to make a rope made of vines. Then suddenly, tying it to the wolf cubs’ hind legs, he dragged it further into the cave laughing,

The monkey sat the wolf cub down on a log beside the fire, facing the wall. Only after finishing his laughing began to see the annoyed and saddened face on the little cub.

“Talent is a weird word. Everything I do is a skill I learned after watching others. My only talent is copying others. What makes you think I’m so talented and you aren’t,” said the monkey as he scratched his chin confused.

“You can dance like the sparrows and jump as amazingly as the frogs. Your talent shines everywhere as you can do everything, I wish I could,” the little wolf cub pouted as the monkey listened. “I only wish to have the strength of a bear and break trees as you do.”

The monkey took a moment of silence and stood. While standing it was at eye level with the little wolf cub and thought for a second before speaking.

“So, it’s the sparrow you’re envious of?” 

The monkey folded his hands in the light of the fire. The wolf cub watched him confused on the purpose until it noticed the dark shadow wiggling behind. The wolf cub saw a bird appear on the wall and began flying as gracefully as the sparrow it watched earlier that day.

“How? Your talent goes even further Monkey. You can even summon the animals you copy!”

“No little cub. This is a trick a friend showed me, just watch,” the sparrow flew across the wall and did tricks. “The beauty of the sparrow’s dance is impossible for me to do. I can’t fly as they do in the sky, for that is a talent only they and other birds may have.” 

As the monkey spoke the shadow sparrow began to fall out of the sky. As it disappeared from the wall the monkey began to form another shadow. This time the figure of a large and strong-

“Bear!” Yelled the little cub excitedly.

“Yes, little cub,” laughed the monkey, “The strongest of the creatures I have encountered. It has the strength to tear trees out of the ground and knock me flying like a bird.” As he said this the shadow of the bear seemed to roar and flex its arms. “Yet even you saw I had to use a rotten board to tear a tree like a bear.”

As this shadow began to crumple like the last, the little wolf began to look expectantly for the next one. Its thoughts still rummaging around in its head, ‘Monkey dances like a sparrow but isn’t one and tears trees like the bears I see but isn’t as strong.’

“This next shadow will take some help”, giggled the monkey as he turned his back to the wolf and began fiddling with his hands and fur.

“Now this animal is a special one. I can’t run through forests like a wolf, never faltering or missing a step. I can’t fight like a wolf with their sharp claws and strong jaws. Its talents are numerous with how strong and beautiful they are.”

The next shadow to appear surprised the little wolf. As the wolf turned its head up from its thoughts, it saw a wolf. The mane of the wolf was wild and flowing as if there was wind, its legs strong and athletic as it moved gracefully between trees and over rocks in the little cub’s head. It saw itself.

“I may be able to do numerous things that others can’t, little wolves, but what I can’t do is be as good at that one thing you wolves can do. The masters of the hunt. You wolves are masters of both stealth and hunting, something I can’t replicate.”

The little wolf listened fixedly as the monkey talked. Almost in a trance it watched the shadow and listened to the words the monkey said.

“Where I may dig many wells, you dug one massive and deep well where your talent lies.” The monkey crumpled the shadow and turned to face the little cub. 

Looking at it seriously, “You are the talented one, my little friend. Not me.”

With those words, the little wolf closed its eyes tightly and when opened again the once little wolf was now large and grown. It shook its head and stretched as it woke. Grinning at the dream of an old memory made it happy. It walked out of the cave with its mane flowing in the wind flowing into the cave and left ready to imprint the world with its talent.