A Blue Heron Stands

 

The heron, a statue in a fishy courtroom, debates the existential quandaries of minnows. His neck, a question mark, senses the gossip beneath the surface—tiny scandals, minnow ambitions, and other life dramas invisible to the casual observer.

 

Fingerlings flirt and frolic, blissfully unaware they're playing a game of hide-and-seek with doom. Their innocence, a comedy in motion, contrasts sharply with the heron’s focused gaze, the original sniper in a tuxedo of feathers. 

 

Around his legs, the water whispers secrets. Shhh, it says, our hero is in deep contemplation. Then, without warning, a minnow dares to break the sacred surface, a minor rebellion in an aquatic dystopia.

 

Our sniper locks in, iron cool. His beak, a loaded weapon ready to deliver nature's verdict. One flick, a break in the time-stream, and he snaps back with his prize. Justice served, just another night in the marshes.

 

Tomorrow, he’ll reenact the scene before an audience of reeds and shadows. Tonight, he’s content—belly full, destiny met, another day in the absurd theater of survival.