Evil Takes Flight
by
Dan Absalonson
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PUBLISHED BY:
Evil Takes Flight
Copyright © 2010 by Dan Absalonson
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
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Dedicated to my brothers, who shot birds with me in the back yard. All we had were low powered BB guns, but it's all we needed to drop those winged fruit tree thieves.
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Evil Takes Flight
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Jeff Klots put on his hoverscoot helmet before opening the gate to his parents' yard. He knew the black nightmare would be coming for him as soon as its wicked ears heard him lift the latch. As the gate burst open it sprang from the trees and dove through the chill air; striking Jeff's helmet with its beak and claws as he sprinted for the front door.
Just before he sprang up the three porch steps it pecked a small bite out of his neck. He shuffled inside, ran upstairs and grabbed a band-aid from the bathroom. He couldn't see the wound on the back of his neck, so he had to feel for it to get the band-aid in the right place. Each time he touched it the sting grew worse. Once it was on he washed his hands, watching the water trickle into the drain, tinged with the cloudy red of his blood. He stormed into his room, slamming the door behind him.
His parents wouldn't be home to make dinner for a while, so he decided to investigate his enemy before starting in on homework. He could have told his dad about the crow, but he wanted to take care of it himself; it had become a personal matter now. Lifting his zoom goggles to his eyes, he looked out of his window to the tree where the black devil lived. To his surprise he saw it in a nest with three baby birds. That must have been why she was dive bombing him; she was just protecting her babies. Then to his horror he saw the mama bird peck off one of her baby bird's legs and swallow it whole.
Jeff dropped the goggles in disgust. "OK, now I know you're evil you wicked birdie," he said aloud to himself. He ran over to his desk and plopped down. Flicking on his tablet he surfed the web for laserguns. All of his friends had them; they stung like a bee, but did no permanent damage to your skin. He had heard, however, that you could buy kits to adjust their power. After some searching he found one pre-modified, and hit the purchase button. This had to go down tomorrow; so he paid extra for next day shipping. With his weapon on the way, he caught up on his favorite cartoon vidcasts while starting his homework.
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When his parents asked him what happened to his neck, he told them a tree branch had caught him while messaging a friend on his tablet as he walked home from the bus stop. That night he tossed and turned for a good hour, unable to get the lasergun off his mind. He awoke the next morning from a dream of the crow pecking off his leg and swallowing it down whole like a snake. He took a quick shower to wash off the cold sweat and rushed off to school. He went through the day in a distracted daze; counting down the hours until he could get home and find the package waiting for him on the porch. When the final bell rang at the end of his last class he raced to his bus and sat impatiently for the big yellow hovercraft to pull away and fly him home. Once again he strapped on his helmet and made a rush for the front door.
The bird somehow knowing his head was protected went for his ear this time, and managed to rip off a small chunk. Jeff's curse towards the winged beast was disrupted by a scream of joyful glee as he spotted a brown box on the porch. It was heavier than he was expecting, but he held it tight as he unlocked the door and ran inside. He flew up the stairs to his room; then dropped the box onto his bed and tore it open. Inside the battered brown box gleamed a large silver pistol complete with a mounted scope and energy level meter on the side. He picked it up, and walked over to the window. This was going to be too easy. The crow was a little over ten feet away, and he had a scope.
He opened the window and the flipped on the power to his new laser pistol. The meter filled up with green bars. He thought he would try it out first on a leaf hanging from the end of the longest branch. He lined up the shot and pulled the trigger. The gun pushed back in his little hands as a red laser exploded from its barrel. The leaf had been vaporized. He swung the gun over towards the bird, and there it was pecking away at its own children. This bird deserved to die. He held his breath to steady his aim, a trick he had learned from video games, and lined up the crosshairs right on the bird's eye. He knew a shot to the chest would be easier, but he just had to tell his friends tomorrow that he landed a head shot on the crow. He blasted away. Just as the gun sounded the crow ducked down and the laser flew right past him; hitting one of the baby birds. A small plume of feathers replaced the tweeting birdie.
"Oh no!" Jeff said, turning from the window and dropping the gun. He put his head in his hands.
"That wasn't supposed to happen," he said to himself.
He looked out the window again. There was the bird pecking away at its last remaining baby; the one who's leg she had already eaten. He lined up the shot again, and let fly. The bird ducked again, but the shot missed the baby bird as well. The mama bird crouched behind her baby, using it as a shield. Now Jeff couldn't line a shot up from his bedroom window. He tried waiting it out, but the bird wouldn't move. He was going to have to face the the wretched beast outside.
He put on his helmet, raced downstairs, and grabbed an oven mitt from the kitchen. He put it on and held the gun in his other hand, striking a pose. Soon he was at the back door, hesitating to open it. He took a deep breath, counted to three, and then charged outside. He heard wings flap hard as soon as the door behind him slammed closed. It was coming right for him. Everything seemed to go into slow motion as he reached up with his mitten hand. He grasped the air until he managed to grab one of the crow's legs. He dug his heels into the grass, lurching to a sudden stop, and slammed the bird down onto the ground. It pecked away at his hand with an evil madness. The mitten was keeping the beak from breaking the skin, but it still hurt like crazy. Jeff held it down and pressed the gun onto the bird's chest.
"Die evil birdy!" he screamed as he pulled the trigger.
A cloud of singed black feathers filled the air around him. His hand was warm even through the mitten. The bird was finally dead. He didn't feel sorry, not one bit. That bird was evil, doing those things to its own babies. Jeff looked to the tree. He could hear the last baby bird chirping away up in the nest. He raced over and jumped onto the bottom branch, swinging himself up. He climbed up a few more until he reached the nest. Inside was the little birdie; hopping around on one leg and chirping with a wild abandon.
"It's OK little fella, it's going to be ok," Jeff said.
He picked up the entire nest and slipped it into the front pocket of his hoodie. It stayed inside the large pocket as he climbed back down the tree. After walking past the meager remains of the mother crow, he walked inside and went back up into his bedroom. The bird wouldn't stop chirping, but Jeff didn't have any food for the little guy. Then he got an idea. He rummaged through his backpack and got out a fresh bag of gummy worms.
"These are my favorite, I hope you like them. I know they're not what you're used to, but they're real good,” Jeff said.
He fed the little bird a half yellow and half red worm as he ate a clear and green one. The bird s
topped chirping and focused on eating.
"Tomorrow I'll go to the fishing store and get you some real ones. Mommy says too much sugar is bad for you, and these worms are full of sugar, but you don't have any teeth so I guess it's all right."
Jeff and the bird became close friends. He told his parents the whole story and they decided that he could keep the bird as a pet. They even went out and bought a cage for him. Best of all, Jeff never again had to fear the walk through the yard to the front door.
THE END
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All rights reserved – Dan Absalonson