Written for the Friday Fictioneers. Story begins after the photo.
Genre: Science Fiction/Satire
Word Count: 100
Copyright: Me
Seagulls decoded
CHICAGO – For centuries, scientists have believed that the language of birds is nothing more than calls, conveying crude communication. Anders Jeppesen, at the University of Chicago, believed differently. Recently, his sophisticated computer program cracked the code in the speech of Seagulls.
For the past year, the program was worked on a video taken of an encounter between a Seagull from Chicago and one from New York. Here is a transcript detailing the incredibly sophisticated communication between the birds:
Chicago Seagull: Deep-dish pizza is best!
New York Seagull: No! Thin-crust pizza is best!
Chicago Seagull: Thick!
New York Seagull: Thin!
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Author’s Note: This week, I’m proud to write a story from my own photo. Yehey! When Shey and I visited the beach at Toronto Island, we found this one seagull that bullied all the others. He’d walk up to them, squawking, and start a fight. Finally, he started a fight with a larger bird and lost. He didn’t feel like fighting any more after that. This pic was taken during that combat.
Each week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields presents an image (donated by many of the Fictioneers) as a writing prompt for 100 words of fiction. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to join this merry band of literary minds. Here’s this week’s original prompt: http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/4-october2013/
EagleAye
Momus News 
Wonderful photo….Funny post!! Thank you. 🙂
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Thanks so much!
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You are welcome…and by the way…being from NY once upon a time….the NY seagull is right!! 🙂
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Which one was Gertrude? Heathcliff?
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I think Heathcliff is the one winning, hehe. 😉
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This is fantastic haha. Only younglings as well. Probably why they like pizza so much 🙂
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Thanks much! They’re obviously college students. Like all college kids, pizza figures largely in their lives. Later, they’ll learn the joys of sushi, directly off a restaurant-goer’s plate!
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HAHA Yes, Unlike the herons who take the sushi straight from it’s source hehe
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Definitely. They seem to prefer Sashimi, with no rice.
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Very funny. Even the seagulls get involved in complex questions that need an answer.
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Thick or Thin is one of the more difficult philosophical questions out there. 😉
Thanks for visiting!
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Nice to hear the picture’s history. I’ll take either thin or thick crust, thank you! 🙂
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Thank you. And yeah, good pizza is still good pizza no matter what. 😉
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Great photo and nice take on the prompt. Thanks for the photo and the explanation. I’d actually thought it was a mother bird feeding a younger one.
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Thank you, and thank you. Sorry to destroy the impression of it you had. It’s not so nice as yours I think.
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Dear E.A.
I love the photo. You really captured the action. I don’t think you need to capitalize seagull. Through thick or thin, the conflict goes unresolved. Nice one.
shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle, and I’m glad you were able to use one of my pics. I’m honored actually. I have a habit of throwing in capitals in odd places. Thanks for catching that. Perhaps one day, the debate of thick or thin will conclude, but it still rages from the human world unto the seagull world. 😉
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Dear EA,
Thanks for the great picture this week. It is nice to hear the real story behind it. Good job.
Aloha,
Doug
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Thanks so much, Doug. I really appreciate it.
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Superb photograph and what a conversation. All this conflict over pizza only?
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When it comes to ideology, debates can sometimes become quite physical. It can be about Captialism vs Communism, Ford vs Chevy, West coast vs East coast, or possibly the most important of all…Thick vs Thin. 😉
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I think I’ll go with pizza.
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Thanks for the funny story – and for the story behind the photo!
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My pleasure on both counts, and thanks for stopping in!
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I must side with the New York gull. This is always best.
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Uh oh. I should never discuss pizza with you. 😉 Thanks much for stopping by.
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Lol
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Thank you for the story and the photo both! I quite enjoyed the prompt itself, as well as your response to it. 🙂
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Most appreciated. I’m glad you enjoyed them both. 🙂
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Nice work, very funny 😀
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Glad you liked it, and thanks for visiting.
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Thanks for this photo — and for the funny story. Your photo is a great prompt for a wide variety of stories. And your story is fun, a good setup with the scientific beginning and the complex dialogue. Hey, why wouldn’t gulls argue over food — it’s important to them!
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Thanks so much for the lovely comments. I really appreciate it. I’m glad the pic worked for you.
And, yeah, I would imagine seagulls argue about food quite a lot. They probably know the best places to eat in town.
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Deep dish, thin crust, I like ’em both. Especially as long as someone else is buying. I’m sure the birds say some nasty things about us, then have a good laugh when we don’t understand what they’re saying.
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Me too. I just like pizza. Those seagulls probably have some distinct opinions about us humans. Probably complain that we don’t donate enough food to them.
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I have to say, when in Chicago, Deep Dish is definitely the way to go! But no one knows Thin Crust like New York; and you can quote me. Fun story, and compelling photo. I saw it and the sound of squawking took me right to my story. 🙂
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I was raised on on deep-dish, there I revealed my true position, but I have had some mighty good thin-crust too. Variety is good. It’s the spice of life, so I’m happy to change up here and there. I’m glad the photo inspired you. That’s when art is most successful. 🙂
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Haha!! I think that’s exactly what seagulls would be taking about! 😀
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That’s what I’m thinking. They might also argue about which restaurants have the best fries, and which patrons are the coolest, because they throw the fries…;)
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Science is awesome, isn’t it? I wanna get that computer program and plug in some conversations that go on around my house so I can figure out what all the squawking is about. Thanks for sharing the pic. It was a great prompt.
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Thanks much for the kind words! I appreciate it. I love science, and I’d like to have that program too. We feed the birds on our patio. So I’d like to hear the bird’s critique of the various food I put out. 😉
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Sea gulls are vicious toward one another. Nice shot. I’ll take my crust THICK.
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They sure can be. And yeah, I’ll take a thick crust from my home town Papa Dels any time.
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Wow, so it’s a debate that transcends species. This is the sort of breakthrough that would break the scientific community, I suspect. 🙂
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Yep. I wonder if aliens argue about the same thing. The scientific community might try to quantify once and for all, thick or thin.
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Great photo and funny story.
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Thanks on both counts. It’s much appreciated.
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Creative writing at its best! BTW…I prefer…thin… 🙂
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Well thank you for the high praise! Much appreciated. And now we know we’ll never fight over the last piece of thick crust. 😉
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Oh, good! No dueling here…
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