HONORABLE MENTION award winner, 2021 William Faulkner Literary Competition
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
By: Aimee Ranew Starratt
home/hōm/noun
the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.
About:
Tragedy forces abandoned twelve-year-old twins, Wren and Hawk Springs, to search for help.
The kind Williamson family takes the twins under their wings, while helping them uncover their father’s identity.
Their racially divided small town, holds many secrets, including their parents’ forbidden romance.
WHO: Wren & Hawk Springs, best friends and fraternal twins
WHAT: The twins search for help, then a home, and finally uncover family secrets. Once their father’s identity is found, they piece together their unlikely existence.
WHEN: 1970’s to 2010’s
WHERE: Paris, Georgia (Our tiny South Georgia town; you’ve never heard of it)
Wren & Hawk’s Broken Family Tree
our white mother, DIXIE
“THE PROM QUEEN”
Dixie was a natural beauty, confident, and one of the most popular girls in school, very talkative and outgoing.
She fell in love with Xavier’s quiet presence, brilliant mind, and unique qualities different from all the other boring people in Paris. Plus, being the star football player also grabbed her attention.
Dixie grew up as a white, wealthy, privileged girl that got everything her heart desired. It doesn’t hurt Dixie was stunningly beautiful, tall, and a smart as a whip.
However, as a mother she was selfish alcoholic, never around, and always hid our father’s identity.
our Black father, XAVIER
“THE QUIET STAR”
Xavier was a quiet genius, a true renaissance man who was born in the wrong place. He was a dedicated son to his loving, hard-working parents.
In high school, Xavier dreamt of leaving Paris and escaping his small-minded community. He played football because he knew to leave Paris, he needed a college scholarship, and football could be his ticket to a full college ride.
Xavier was a gifted athlete, and he was making it out of South Georgia as he soared to the top of his class as the first Black valedictorian at Tallokas County High School.
Until the accident…
us – WREN AND HAWK
“THE TWINS”
Dixie and Xavier formed a quiet friendship throughout high school, and for one brief summer, they had a secret affair.
Dixie hid our father’s identity our whole lives. He was never around anyway. We never thought much about our father because Dixie’s parents raised us.
It was not until she was arrested after abandoning us kids that the true identity of our father was revealed.
And that revealtion leads to more questions – why would Xavier ever date DIXIE, a heartless alcoholic? Apparently she wasn’t always that way…
We are all connected
WREN AND HAWK OVERCOME
addiction, racism, poverty, grief, and tragedy
Past and present collide in this extraordinary place that has seen both enormous prosperity and utter poverty. The entire story takes place in the racially divided town of Paris, Georgia. As the twins grow older, their natural kindness and curiosity explore nature, help humanity, and rebuild their broken community.
“Hawk and I riffled through the cabinets. We looked for any kind of food but only found a mixture of nonsensical ingredients – an expired bottle of Vitamin C pills, canned yams, our last can of tuna, some flour, a few tea bags, and a bit of dried carrots in the back bottom drawer of the fridge. We’d already worn the cupboard nearly bare.
Nothing new to us. The last time this happened, Mama sobered up enough to feel sorry for us. She called the church women’s social group and asked for help. The ladies delivered big boxes of groceries. Hawk and I filled our bellies and felt the peace of contentment.
A month later, we reached the same miserable state. Mama went out to drink or get high again. She’s been gone for over two weeks, and we’ve nearly run out of all food.”
wREN SPRINGS FROM BIRDS OF A FEATHER
For more information about “Birds of a Feather”,
please contact the author Aimee Ranew Starratt via
aimee.starratt@gmail.com
Full manuscript available upon request (75,000 words)
All content and writing samples, plot, characters, and themes of Birds of a Feather (working title) are the intellectual property of Aimee Ranew Starratt.
“Birds of a Feather” awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2021 William Faulkner Literary Competition
Birds of a Feather 