by Justin Sloan
Creamsicle smiled with a purr and nodded as the other two followed Brooke out into a light rain. Fresh air surrounded them with a chill and the smell of damp earth. Blades of grass glistened with the orange glow from the house light.
“Any idea which way?” Brooke asked as they walked.
Timmy shivered in the cold. “What’s the rush?”
“You can say that,” Roy said, shivering just as much. “With all that fur.”
Brooke paused, beak chattering with the cold. “Come on guys, back there I saw what you two can accomplish working together. Maybe even find my necklace!”
They looked at her like what’s the big deal?
“It’s him that’s got a problem with mouses!” Timmy said.
“Of course!” Roy said with a flap of his wings. “You can’t even fly!”
Timmy pretended to flap his arms with a sarcastic expression. “Oh, no, I can’t fly. Whoop-dee-do! Who cares? That doesn't make you special.”
Roy stepped forward, eyes narrowed. “My momma tells me I’m extremely special, I’ll have you know.”
They glared, each waiting for the other to be the first to move, when a creak echoed through the night, coming from the direction of the house.
“You three, run!” Creamsicle called.
They turned back to the house in the distance to see an open door, the cat in the corner and the boy outlined in the light. He looked like a shadow in human form, dark and scary. The boy ran forward, charging. He wore a football helmet and carried a baseball bat.
“Go!” Brooke yelled, and they broke for the trees.
Before they could make it, the boy cut them off, the baseball bat barely missing Brooke.
“Try to poke my head now, birdies!” The boy swung his bat again, this time inches from slamming Timmy into the ground.
Timmy scurried through his legs in an attempt to distract him, but the boy started stomping. Timmy narrowly escaped a large orange shoe. The boy laughed and hopped after him. Each stomp was a splash of muddy water.
Brooke swept down, circling the boy’s head and yelling for him to stop. But the boy turned on her and swung. She flew around and he spun, swinging in a circle that caused him to lose himself in the overly large helmet. He dropped the bat and dizzily staggered after her as she flew for Roy.
Roy fluttered nervously. “Where’s Timmy?”
“I don’t know!” Brooke said as she dodged the boy’s meaty hand.
A car sped past and honked its horn at the boy, who now wobbled too close to the road.
“Find him,” she said to Roy. “I gotta get that boy away from the road!”
“What for?”
“Roy! It’s dangerous.” She shot him a glance then flew between the boy and the tree line, tweeting loudly to get his attention. It worked.
The boy’s eyes focused on her and he charged. But his foot hit the wet grass and he went sliding. He tried to regain his balance, arms twirling, but with a hoot he dove forward and slammed his helmet right into a tree. Pinecones and water fell down on the boy like a cold shower. His groans made Brooke want to smile as she flew past, but the desire faded when she saw he once again had grabbed the baseball bat.
The boy jumped up with a yell. “Here little birdie, here little mousy.”
“This way,” Roy hissed, and Brooke dove past the boy’s line of sight to join Roy and Timmy at the mouth of a sewage grate.
“Couldn’t you have found somewhere else to hide?” she whispered as the boy lumbered by overhead. She started to say something else but Timmy grabbed her beak and looked up with a “Shhh.”
The boy sniffed the air, his face close. No one breathed. When he finally stood and moved on, the three friends let out a breath as one. They shivered with cold and fear, watching the rain form into little waterfalls on each side of the grate. Finally, Timmy released Brooke’s beak.
“Think he’s gone?” Timmy whispered.
Roy listened for a moment before nodding. He looked at Timmy and said, “You showed no fear. I was impressed.”
“Thank you,” Timmy said, before turning to Brooke. “You hear that? Your friend actually gave me a compliment.” His smile froze as he saw Brooke staring across the street, her eyes in a daze. “Brooke?”
Forgetting to check for the boy, Brooke pushed herself up and out of the sewage grate. With a flap of her wings she headed across the road, leaving Timmy and Roy behind to stare in surprise. By the time they caught up, she was on the grass beside a giant red hat. She hopped to the side of it, caressing it with her cheek and remembering that her mom had a hat just like this. She remembered the way her mom laughed—a moment eating ice cream at the zoo, this same hat shielding her mother’s gaze from the sun as her eyes took in her daughter with so much love. Would Brooke ever see that look again?
Timmy put an arm around her. “Remember I mentioned my daughter?”
She looked up at him, unsure.
“She’s gone…. They all are. I—I still have a hard time thinking about it. But when I lost my family, a block of cheese could’ve landed before me and I wouldn’t have cared.” He wiped a tear from her cheek. “If you could see your mom right now, I bet you anything she’s feeling just how I felt.”
“My Dad’s gone,” she said. “It’s not the same without him. It never will be.”
“Your mom lost your dad as well, and now you too. How do you think she's feeling?”
This had never occurred to Brooke. She sniffled and then stood to go to the edge of the hat. “I wonder,” she said, becoming hopeful. If this was her mom’s hat, that meant she couldn’t be too far off. Brooke flew into the dark sky, eyes searching. “I think I recognize this place. If we’re near home, we can find the pigeons and my necklace. Yes, over that way is the supermarket, which means.... This way!”
She took off and trusted the others to follow. She knew exactly where she was, and she was on her way home.
Chapter 9: Farewell Roy
Brooke, Timmy, and Roy cautiously approached the edge of a clearing. They moved branches aside and saw pigeons, some lounging around while others cooed with puffed chests and danced in circles.
“Let’s do it,” Brooke said.
“Diving in head first again, huh?” Timmy said. “How about a plan?”
“I have one. Go over and demand my necklace.”
Roy shook his head, doubtfully.
“They’ll eat us alive!” Timmy said. “Well, me, anyway.”
“It’s something I have to do. You two can leave now.” Brooke stared at them for a long moment before she did her best to put on a brave face. “I’m gonna miss you guys. Come on, you two get a move on. I’ll be okay.”
Roy clicked his beak. “You can’t be serious.”
Timmy nodded and hopped to his feet. “We didn’t come this far to leave you. That’s not what friends do.”
“Nor family,” Roy added. He looked off into the trees, a moment of sadness in his eyes. Brooke knew that her eyes showed it too.
“So how are we gonna....” Timmy’s voice trailed off as his eyes darted past Brooke to the surrounding trees. His tail stuck straight up and his ears perked.
Brooke and Roy followed his gaze to see beady eyes reflecting light from the shadows. Bigon and Nog.
Bigon was the first to step forward. “Co-coo. So loud over here!”
“No one invited us to the party?” Nog said as other pigeons flew down to join them.
Brooke and Roy backed up so they stood close to Timmy, as if the two little birds could protect the little mouse.
“Just give it back!” Brooke demanded.
Bigon leered and motioned the others forward. “I think not.”
The pigeons surrounded Brooke and her friends, overwhelming them. Brooke moved fast and, amid wings slapping across her, snagged Timmy with her claws and flew off.
“Come on Roy!” she called, and was relieved to see him right behind her.
Within moments the pigeons were on them and overtook Brooke
, surrounding her. Wings flapped everywhere, their flutter like distant thunder. Roy charged, trying to fight them off and get to Brooke, but in the chaos, Brooke dropped Timmy. Roy saw this and dove, and a moment later Brooke broke free as well and flew after them. Two pigeons turned on Roy but he fought them off and pushed forward to help Brooke grab Timmy by the arms inches above the ground.
Timmy pointed to the edge of the tree line. “There! Swing low! Brooke, distract them!
“Distract them how?” Brooke asked frantically.
“Find a way!”
Roy and Timmy dipped low as Brooke turned to face the Pigeons. She charged straight for them and, at the last minute, darted up. She glanced back to see Roy swooping around a tree and Timmy motioning. The next thing she saw was Roy dropping Timmy!
A pigeon broke off from the chase and Brooke caught a glimpse of Roy flying as fast as his little wings would take him, the pigeon close on his tail. Bigon appeared from below Brooke and snapped at her wing, barely missing.
A shadow blocked out the moonlight and Brooke yelped. The pigeons came up behind her as a dark beast with massive wings arose in front. The pigeons screamed and beat against each other as they fled. Brooke tried to stop as well, but she was going too fast. She beat her wings wildly to backtrack, but the beast closed in.
She shut her eyes and cringed. The night filled with Timmy’s laughter, and Roy joined in. Brooke opened her eyes as she connected with a massive fern branch! When she freed herself, she saw Timmy was holding the fern branches like wings while Roy carried him.
Brooke lowered herself to the ground with a frown to make sure they knew she was annoyed.
“You shoulda seen yourself,” Roy said as he placed Timmy beside Brooke.
Brooke turned away, sure she was blushing through her feathers. “I wasn’t scared. I was....” She turned with a smile. “Anyway, that was amazing!”
“It was Timmy’s idea,” Roy said.
Timmy beamed. “Pigeons sure are stupid.”
“You were great.”
Timmy bowed and then, seeing an acorn cap nearby, placed it on his head with a salute. “Just doing my duty.”
They all burst into laughter. Timmy wearing the acorn cap reminded Brooke of her dolls, the creased smile on her dad’s face when he gave her the last doll, and how he had said he would bring her another one. How odd that now she had a friend small enough to wear one of those caps. Her smile faded as she remembered that they still hadn’t found her necklace.
“I didn’t see the necklace with them,” she said.
Timmy’s whiskers twitched as he thought. “But if they didn’t, then who?”
“Bad Bird Trollay!” Roy exclaimed, his smile completely gone.
Timmy gulped. All of their eyes filled with fright.
Brooke began to pace in circles. “What if it’s like the voice in that mermaid movie?”
“What?” Timmy said.
“What if my necklace has the magic that makes…. Well…. And now that stupid bird—”
“Makes you what?” Roy interrupted.
She turned, considering whether to tell them the truth about her being a human, when three flapping forms appeared above them.
“Looks like you may have another chance,” Timmy said with a gulp as the shadows crossed his face.
But the forms flew into the moonlight and they weren’t pigeons—it was Momma Swallow and her little birdies!
“Roy?” Momma Swallow said. “At last you’re here!”
“Momma!” Roy exclaimed in excitement.
“You gave me such a scare.” Momma Swallow swooped in for a hug and they held each other, laughing. Roy’s brother and sister fluttered above them.
“Look Roy, we can fly!” Roy’s sister said. “Fly real high!”
Roy laughed and flew up to them. In spite of her angst and sorrow, Brooke allowed a smile, happy to see the family together again. Roy circled his siblings and then they hugged and fell. Momma Swallow caught them with more laughter. Brooke continued to watch it all with an intense longing in her beady eyes.
“Come on now,” Momma Swallow said. “We must prepare for the migration.”
Roy turned to Brooke with concern. “I can't leave, not if this necklace means so much to you.”
She held up a wing to stop him. “Just go. There's no way.”
He opened his beak to protest, but must have seen how serious she was. If Trollay had the necklace, what hope did she have?
“I’ll miss you,” Roy said. “Both of you.”
“Ah, it won’t be long,” Timmy said. “We’ll play again in the spring, maybe have another adventure?”
Brooke tried to make herself feel better about it all. “Yeah, and you’ll see me around, right? Maybe I’ll be huddled in some tree branch, cleaning my feathers.”
Brooke hugged Roy and he chirped with surprise at the show of affection. Roy turned to Timmy and saluted him with his wing. Timmy raised his acorn-cap in response, and they all laughed, though Brooke’s laugh was filled with sadness. She couldn’t help but think of her own family, seeing Roy’s joy. The last time her dad had returned from a deployment, her family had laughed and hugged like this, and that moment would never happen again—how could it? Brooke’s dad was gone, and she was a bird.
Roy and his family flapped into the air. Momma Swallow paused, seeing the look on Brooke’s face. “Don’t worry. Before we migrate I may let him come say goodbye again, if there’s time.”
Roy smiled and waved as he and his family vanished through the leaves above.
“Farewell!” Timmy called, raised up on his hind legs.
They watched Roy until he disappeared into the night.
“Why’d you let him go?” Timmy asked. “We’re going to need his help.”
“It’s too late anyway. If that stupid Trollay has my necklace, I may as well get used to these feathers.”
“That sounds like giving up.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” She turned, not wanting to see the sadness and judgment in Timmy’s eyes.
Brooke’s attention turned to loud stomping noises. The whole forest seemed to vibrate around Brooke and her friend, and she wondered if a bird’s troubles ever ceased.
Chapter 10: They Really Miss Me
Brooke grabbed Timmy and pulled him aside just as a shoe landed where he had been standing. She held him tight, both of them shaking.
“Hold up, Paul!” a voice thundered through the trees.
Daring to look up, Brooke saw her brother there in the woods, looming over her like a towering giant. The moonlight glistened off the sweat on his brow. Paul’s eyes searched the woods, desperate, as his two buddies from the birthday party caught up with him.
“First my dad, now this,” Paul said. “It’s been a whole day. Where can she be?” He wiped away a tear and took off again before his buddies could see it.
But Brooke saw. Paul’s buddies followed, leaving Brooke to stare after them in her moment of realization. Her brother really missed her!
She couldn’t let them run off, she decided as she jumped up and flapped after them for a moment. But no, she had tried this. They wouldn’t understand if she tried to talk, so what good would chasing them do? She landed on a nearby log and watched them disappear into the dark woods.
Timmy scrambled up beside her. “Those were humans. Be careful!”
Brooke turned and, in the distance, she could just barely make out the white walls of her house through the trees. People walked about, red and blue police car lights flashing on nearby tree leaves. They were looking for her.
“Wait a minute,” Timmy said, thinking out loud. “Those humans were shouting your name, no?”
She nodded.
“What exactly is going on?”
“It’s time I headed home, somehow. I can’t give up. My mom needs me.”
“You were saying.... You mentioned something about being....”
Brooke sniffled, realizing how much she really missed her family. “I�
��ve said enough.”
“Brooke, aren’t we friends?”
“Yes.”
“Trust me.” He took her wings in his paws.
Her feathers ruffled as she thought. “If we do this, I may not see you again anytime soon.”
“Oh? Because I’m a mouse, and you’re a…?”
“I’m a human. A girl. I know it’s hard to believe, but my necklace, it transforms me at night. That’s why I need to get it back.”
Timmy stared at her, unsure. His whiskers twitched in a nervous way.
“I know, I know, it’s a stretch. But you believe me, don’t you? You’ve got to. I mean, even I don’t totally believe it all, but I need you.”
“It’s a lot to take in, but….” His expression softened, as if he was relieved of a secret. “I kind of knew something was different with you. And after your connection with the red hat back there, I began to wonder.”
She looked back the way Paul had gone and watched as a leaf fell from a tree, drifting in the wind. “I think my dad sent me the necklace, you know? Or left it behind, and he knew it was magic. Somehow it was supposed to help me, I guess. But now I’m stuck like this, and I don’t know what that bird is going to do with the necklace. Can he use the magic somehow? What if he…. I just don’t know! ”
Timmy moved closer and stared into her eyes. “I believe you, okay? But if Trollay has it, we’re going to need some help.”
“You mean it?”
“Come on!” He took off, leading the way.
Brooke found herself dodging fallen twigs and leaves, struggling to keep up with Timmy on her little bird legs. It hit her that she could fly beside him instead of running and she threw out her wings to catch the breeze, feeling pretty dumb for not thinking of it earlier. If she was going to stay a bird, she would have to get used to this.
“Where’re we going?” she asked.
“Only the rats know how to deal with Trollay.”
“Rats?” she asked, disgusted. “But why rats?”
“They have a special something other animals don’t seem to have.”
“It’s just, I never really liked rats.”
