The Cuckoo's Call

by Lily Morton

It’s sad to realise finally that we won’t ever reconnect now. He’s moved away from me and the gap is too wide to breach. It hurts but he isn’t the first to let go of me and I’m sure he won’t be the last.

I’m very tempted to order something outlandish, but I bite my lip. Every time I do something even vaguely naughty, I hear the sisters from my Catholic primary school in my head. It’s probably why I’ve led such a saintly life.

“Remind me to take you everywhere with me, Mateo,” I say. “Why?” “I wouldn’t want to cross you. You're the Terminator of politeness. That was annihilation by good manners.”

“You’re doing something much better. You’re finding him a home. Every person needs one of those.”

I shake my head. “What have I done?” I bewail. His lip twitches. “You’ve set me loose. Feel bad, Mateo. Feel very bad.”

“I am, but then my local library has the best-looking librarian in history. It makes all my visits thrilling.”

“Charlie isn’t just handsome. He’s stunning,” I say with a dreamy sigh.

“I was like a cuckoo. They never really have their own homes, do they? They’re left in someone else’s nest. I remember reading about them in primary school and thinking, ‘That's me. I’m a cuckoo, and there is nowhere that is really my home.’”

but just for once, I would like someone to want me to stay. I want someone to miss me when I go.

Despite my brave words, I am a little anxious. Trust me to pick the super-monster cock to pop my cherry.

There’s a sudden loud banging on the door. Owen frowns. “Who could that be?” “Maybe it’s the compassion police,” I say idly. “Coming to arrest you for being such a complete cocksicle, Owen.”

“Like a bird who’s anti migration?” “But not a cuckoo,” he says fiercely. “Never that.”

I’m a bird, I tell myself. I will be free and easy and ride the wind, but I will never be a cuckoo to him. I will go home when winter comes, and I will never make him regret wanting to spend time with me. I hug him back, closing my mind to doubts and focusing on the scent of his skin.

“Oh my god,” I shout. My fingers are going to leave bruises on my legs, but that’ll be a problem for reincarnated Wren, because if Teo doesn’t make me come soon, I’ll expire on the spot.

day.” He looks steadily at me. “You’re like my lighthouse, Wren. You show me the way, and your light is so clear and warm.”

I know that my home’s not made of bricks and mortar. I hold this knowledge deep inside my heart where he has the most important spot. My kind and clever man is my home. Not bad for a little cuckoo.