Permanent link
The Unnecessarily Sincere Smew
Random inspiration: unnecessarily sincere smew
AI-generated painting and story
The story
The smew had been told, by a passing heron with questionable authority, that sincerity was a virtue worth cultivating. It had taken this to mean it must now stare intently at empty corners, hold its breath when no one was watching, and apologize to the floorboards for existing too loudly. It did not know why it felt compelled to be sincere, only that the heron had nodded solemnly before flying off. Now, in the quiet room, it waited—for approval, for a sign, for the heron to return and say it had done enough. The light moved. The smew did not.
The brief
A lone smew stands upright on a wooden floor in a dimly lit, empty room, its white and black plumage stark against the muted grey walls, head tilted slightly as if listening to a sound only it can hear, a single shaft of pale afternoon light falling across its breast.
The painting and the story were written from this same scene, so the two describe one moment.
Comments and bookmarks
Comments are plain text from NPDev accounts. Bookmarks stay private to the account that saved them.
No comments yet. Be the first to say something.
Sign in to join the conversation.