Five Minute Fiction (Repost)
This past weekend was a busy one, and didn’t leave me much time to write. Please accept my apologies, but when I did manage to sit down in front of the computer it felt as if I was forcing the words out. This is never a good sign, and can only mean one thing; step away from the computer. Slowly. Come back another day when the story will be there for me.
In place of my typical Five Minute Fiction is a quick repost from before I officially started Five Minute Fiction. Enjoy?
The crows fell out of the sky, ignoring our waving arms and angry curses. They swooped down with terrible speed, angry and determined to pull us aside and violently interrogate us about our mundane choice in food products. ”If we don’t like what we hear,” they cawed in unison, “we’re going to have to take you downtown.”
They jumped on and around our picnic table. A tribe of forgotten pygmies performing an ancient dance meant to awaken the gods for virgin sacrifice. Loud and furious, they staked out territories and shored up borders. The Bread tribe eyed the Hotdog tribe closely, noting the weaknesses in their defense. Soon a scout was sent hopping over, but was pushed back by the meat-loving horde.
Stabbing at their prey, they ripped apart the thin plastic skins and exposed the soft innards. Bread crumbs tumbled onto the grass. Salty hotdog juice seeped into the earth. The tribes screamed and flapped with feathers now soaked and covered with food. Pacing at the fringes, the largest of the crows paused and slowly, delicately, lifted a wing skyward, then dipped it down into a pool of ketchup and painted a fine line across its face. A bright red streak glowed off the polished black of its beak. A sign of dominance.
The war-painted leader ordered his troops into the air. With beating, thrashing wings they took flight. Dingy, charcoal feathers pealed away from their inky silhouettes, pirouetting in the sky as they gracefully tumbled down, and littered the ground around us.
The picnic table was empty. We sat on the wet grass, hands bound, mouths gagged, stomachs empty.
Now that was a creepy one. Good imagery because I was cringing the whole time.
Don’t feel bad about not being able to get the words out. You are very prolific. Sometimes it is the best call to just walk away and come back to it another day.
This story comes right on time for Thanksgiving
It interesting how humans suddenly become defenseless against animals who are smaller in size…particularly, when the animals come in groups. The part where the leader marking his tribal dominance with ketchup had me playing intense ready-for-battle music in my head while reading.
Ooooh creepy. For someone having trouble getting the words out, you did damn good. Don’t know how I came to miss this yesterday!