Rona the Lonely Bat & Her Search for Forbidden Fruit

Night had fallen in the ancient forest where Rona lived. She hung from a crooked and unruly branch of a fig tree. Alone. Having aimlessly flown around the last few hours in search of breakfast, directed only by her acute sense of smell, here she stopped to roost. Alone.

Having been shunned and shooed all her life, more than she sought morsels of overripe fruit, Rona was desperately seeking love. Far and wide she had used her powerful olfactory abilities to sniff any possibility of the warmth of companionship, friendship, and love. The membranes of her wiry wings expanding and contracting with hope each night. Only to be left hanging. Alone.

At twilight she roused. Stretching her weary wings, she gathered her courage and hope for the thousandth and first time before taking flight. Her two strong senses leading her further through the wilderness. She smelt something unfamiliar - musty and pungent, like turnips in the sun - and heard a voice - strange and singing.

Down she swept closer to the strange smell and sound to the source of the excitement. “Could this be?” she thought, her heart pining. Her talons gripped flesh and then shirtsleeves and in tangled excitement she came to rest, hanging furtively on threads of thick linen.

After a series of alarmed shrieks, the voice finally calmed and spoke to her in gentle questioning tones while soft strokes were administered to her head. Years alone, never had she known such affection. This will be my friend, she said to herself, her tiny heart beating slower and warming in a way she’d never felt it do before.

Their unlikely friendship was solidified as they traversed the countryside together. Eating what they found in the forests, finding nectar in the trees, and keeping warm by their travelling fire. In their cosy union of two, neither of them could foresee the devastation their friendship would cause, nor the invisible trail of death they left behind in their journey. But they had found each other when they had little and no-one. Their forbidden love, selfish but satisfying.

Written by Priyam Chovhan
From Melbourne, Australia
@peainpictures