Two For Joy

Two For Joy

Written by Phil Green

Dedicated to Vicky Willis for continuously pushing me to be positive despite my reservations.

Page 1

Magpies… often there are multiple, maybe two, maybe several. But have you ever just seen one? One lone magpie on his own?

Page 2

Meet Sorrow. He is unlucky. If you see Sorrow on his own, it may bring you bad luck. He may ruin your day.

Page 3

Very unlucky was Sorrow, always losing his keys, getting lost in the woods, and forever dropping his food.

Page 4

Sorrow believed he was cursed. He believed he was being punished. But this was not true. Sorrow was very lonely.

Page 5

Sorrow would not admit his sadness, as he was a very proud magpie. He would not admit he was clumsy, and this made Sorrow very mean.

Page 6

Sorrow would boo all the other birds as they flew by, as if they had done something wrong.

Page 7

Sorrow was perched on a branch as an owl flew by. “Booooooooooooo!” shouted Sorrow, with his wing pointing downwards, mimicking a human thumb.

Page 8

The owl stopped mid-flight, turned around in a flash, and swooped down towards Sorrow. “Excuse me, sir, did you just boooooo me?” quizzed the owl.

Page 9

“No, that wasn’t me,” pleaded Sorrow, with lies in his eyes. “It must have been a cow in the wind, moooooooooooooooo!”

Page 10

“Oh, jolly good then. My mistake, I do apologise. You have a good day!” said the owl.
As he turned away, Sorrow burst out laughing.

Page 11

“It was me, you smelly fool! Why would there be a cow in the wind? Boooooooooooooooo!” he shouted even louder towards the owl.

Page 12

The owl flew away, confused and disgusted by how he had been treated.
“How rude,” he exclaimed, with tears beginning to form.

Page 13

Sorrow burst out laughing even more. He loved booing birds, he found it hilarious.

Page 14

Next to fly by Sorrow was a crow. “Booooooooooooooo!” shouted Sorrow.
The crow stopped and looked to see where the noise had come from.

Page 15

“Did you just boo me?” quizzed the crow. “Nah, wasn’t me. I think it was that pig down there, he stood in some poo,” claimed Sorrow.

Page 16

“Oh good, I thought that was aimed at me. At least I don’t smell of poo,” joked the crow.
Sorrow burst out laughing as the crow looked bemused.

Page 17

“It was aimed at you. There is no pig! I booed you, and you smell of poo!” said Sorrow, laughing hysterically.

Page 18

The crow flew away with his feelings hurt. Sorrow laughed so hard that he fell out of the tree, bashing every branch as he tumbled down.

Page 19

Sorrow stood up on the ground, groaning with a very sore head. “Why am I so unlucky? Why am I cursed?” he asked himself.

Page 20

“Maybe it’s because you were mean to those other birds.” Sorrow turned around to see another magpie speaking to him.

Page 21

“My name is Joy. Nice to meet you. I am a magpie like you. Trust me, you are not cursed,” said Joy, with a big smile on his face.

Page 22

Sorrow looked confused. “What do you mean?” asked Sorrow.
“I am always clumsy, losing things, falling out of trees. Are you saying all that is because I was mean?”

Page 23

“No. You are clumsy and forgetful because that is who you are, and that is okay.
But you are mean because you are on your own, and you don’t need to be. Watch this.”

Page 24

Joy dragged Sorrow back up to the branch where they had fallen. They sat there silently until a seagull flew by. “Yayyyyyy!” shouted Joy.

Page 25

“Excuse me, sir,” said the seagull with a grin. “Did you just yay me?”

Page 26

“I did,” said Joy with pride. “I am celebrating your flying. You are doing great, well done!”

Page 27

“Why, thank you, young chap. How very nice. You have a good day!” The seagull flew off, smiling from the kind encounter.

Page 28

“See? I had fun and also made that seagull smile. That is much better than being mean and it is much better with friends. I can be your friend. What is your name?” asked Joy.

Page 29

“Sorrow,” he replied. “Thank you, Joy. I have never had a friend before.”

Page 30

You see, Sorrow still felt sad, and that is okay. But he felt better with his friend Joy around. Life is better with friends. Always remember: One for Sorrow. Two for Joy.