Nightjar

Noah's dad has flown in from New York for a visit, and the two of them are out walking in the countryside when they spot a nightjar that has been hurt. Noah wants to help it right away. His dad thinks the kinder thing is to step back and let nature run its course.

The disagreement over the bird quickly turns into something bigger. Noah is hurt and angry that his dad moved to America and built a new family there, one that never seems to have a place for him. He feels unseen and left behind, and the injured bird gives all of that somewhere to go.

Nightjar is a short, emotional story about a father and son who have drifted apart and have to decide whether they can find their way back to each other. It asks what they still have in common and whether a new kind of closeness is possible.