IanG

The gulf between practical father and artistic son rings true. So does his thinking that things would be different had his mother been there.

I like the term 'brutally hard.' You bring two very different worlds up against each other and the contrast works well.

Just one thing, you refer to the floor and it seems to be outdoors. We usually say 'ground' for the natural earth beneath our feet and 'floor' for a man-made covering. That said, people sometimes refer to the 'forest floor' and the rest of your descriptions are good.

Well done for a thoughtful, hopeful piece of writing. During lockdown a lot of people have been forced to look again at nature on their doorsteps. I think they will relate to this.

Cowardly prey is perhaps imposing human standards on animals. If you're under attack from something much better armed then flight is a sensible response. Even so, I agree with the sentiments you express here. Keep it up.

You're building suspense well, and I like the detail about her makeup running. There are a few spelling mistakes, 'her' when I think you meant 'here', but keep practising and you'll get better.

You build tension well and your narrator's feelings are believable. Perhaps you could use this as a basis for a longer story. If not its a good short piece.

This is a good summing up of true fridndship.

Children will probably like how the parrot goes from zero to hero. It would take more than 20 parrots to right the ship but you're using a surreal premise all along so you might get away with it. Its a nice twist at the end.