Run

My stomach’s full, and my father huddles close to me in the almost finished nest. He’s happy because he’ll finally get to know what happened to his family. Little does he know, he’s sleeping right next to it.

He’d known that his family had died all this time. He just hoped, wished, for another explanation. That hope had died out to vengeance. The sweet but hollow beast of vengeance is easy to fall prey too after all.

But whilst he was happy, I was anything but. This false revelation I’d given him had shattered my plans. I’d be left alone like before, a little bird left alone to face the wilderness. That simply wouldn’t work.

How the hell am I going to get away from this?

Switching bodies could work, but the cooldown simply wasn’t over yet. I’ve felt my body mature a bit, but I still think I wouldn’t be able to fly. I can’t run across the land, small insects are a threat to me, let alone the real predators of the wild.

It seems I’m doomed either way, so there’s no need in thinking any further. I close my eyes and slowly drift away into sleep.

I wake up to the grunts of my father stretching, and also Jonte’s confusion.

“Should I kill him?” Jonte asks me.

“No, no, save your strengths for later.”

“What are we doing later?”

“Running.”

“Why?”

“There’s too many creatures here that want to kill us.”

“Really like who?”

“Well, this bird will probably tell everyone we’re killers, or worse parasites, and put a giant target on our back. Then there’s the cat that lives here. You haven’t seen her but she could us. Probably not you actually, but you might not be there.”

I look at my father’s determined face, down to his sharp claws. He’d been stretching for a while now. He returns my stare.

The sun rise vivids the black log, and the light purple branch, and the dark purple leaves. A wave of air pushes past me. I hear a bird twittering, signalling the morning, it’s my father.

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“I’m going now. I’ll be back later tonight. I’d advise you to stay here, there’s a lot of beasts out here,” his voice turned dark towards the end.

His wings flapped and he slowly rose up. He flew away quickly, determination pulsating through his wings. He became a small dot in the sky and soon disappeared.

The second I couldn’t see him, and therefore he couldn’t see me. I furiously skitted towards the log. My goal, the nest below us. There would be carnage. But first I’d have to spot it.

I didn’t spot a nest. I almost spotted nothing, but a strange shape broke into my focus. A cylinder with a myriad of purple colours. It breathed, it’s chest bouncing up and down.

It was an owl.

I skitted down onto the branch the owl rested on. The second I did, the owl jerked its head around, staring straight at me. From sleep to full alert. I felt a shiver run down my back. This was one of those real predators. I suddenly felt really silly for trying to kill the owl.

“Hello little one,” the owl said.

“Hey,” I said.

“I see you trying to sneak up on me, how come?” It suddenly spread out it’s wings. Holy shit its big. I jumped back in fear.

“Just wanted to say hello.”

“Huh…” the owl wasn’t buying it, “you’re quite young, where are your parents?”

“My father flew over to the crow sage to ask questions.”

“That makes sense. You seeked me out because you’re scared.”

Thank god.

“Yes, it’s really scary without my father to protect me.”

“Tell me about it, even a big scary owl like myself is scared.”

“Really? But you have acute senses.”

“Acute, that’s a big word for a chick.”

Fuck, I need to get better at acting.

“Yeah. I heard people screaming a day ago. Did you also hear it?”

“Yeah, it woke me up out of my deep slumber. I tried sleeping through it but it was just too horrifying. I flew over to it eventually to check what was happening but I only saw a cat eating a bird. Such is life.

“Yeah I guess so,” perfect, just what a child would say.

“I’m really tired, owl’s are nocturnal creatures after all. If you need any help, just scream and I’ll be there.”

The owl closed its eyes.

“Yo Loco,” Jonte said, “I could probably kill him.”

“That’s good to know, but don’t.”

“Why not? Seems like a lot of XP.”

“We’re not killing our ally, especially when there’s lots of enemies around.”

“Ahh, okay, what’s the next step?”

“We climb down the tree and run as far away from this place as we can.”

I climbed down the tree, jumping from branch to branch, and landed down on the familiar ground. I did not like standing here. I felt like I was being watched from every direction, not at all a pleasant experience.

I skitted away from the trees, flapping my wings for each jump, and gained some traction. My body was starting to mature, and soon I’d be able to fly. That would make my life a whole lot easier.

I saw a grasshopper eating on a blade of grass. It brought back memories. Almost made me tear up. It had felt like a lifetime since I was a grasshopper. Below the grasshopper a purple two-headed snake slithered towards me.

Fuck.