THE MASKED HUMANS

THE MASKED HUMANS

“Can you imagine?” Madam Vulture flapped her wings excitedly; “I have just lost my fourth child to these human beings.”

“Why are you complaining?”Madam Eagle twisted her terrible beak. “Rumour has it that you deliberately allowed your kids to scrounge for food on the ground.”

“But vulture also,” Madam Parrot came in with a dejected face. “Why would you do such a thing to your kids?

“That is a damned lie,” Madam Vulture said angrily. “The boys never touched the ground at all. The wicked boy struck them with arrows while they were drinking water at the pool.”

Madam Duck came yapping its beak wildly, “I have already lost ten members to these humans, can’t we ever feel safe from his wicked schemes?”

“Maybe Madam Vulture can shed some light on this matter,” Madam Parrot clicked a tongue while admiring the bright colors on the wings. “The carelessness started in her backyard, one can only hope that the solution may be found there as well.”

“Don’t utter nonsense, Parrot,” Madam Vulture glared at the tiny bird with contempt, the muscles on his bald head twitched violently and the beak opened wide as if preparing to swallow the offender in one gulp. “I will not accept that kind of nonsense from you.”

“Hey! Vulture, control your temper,” eagle shouted. “We are dying in droves and the last thing we need is someone shaking feathers trying to threaten others.”

“But I didn’t start these killings,” Madam Vulture protested, “Why do you blame me?”

 “The problem with you is that you are so economical with the truth,” Madam Eagle glared at Vulture with blazing eyes. She wished it was a small bird that could be disciplined easily, like a dove.

“What truth do you want?” Madam Vulture matched Madam Eagle glare for glare, “haven’t I told you all I know?”

‘How could man kill your boys and you dint do anything about it?”Madam Eagle ripped the airwaves with her question. She wanted everyone to see that Madam Vulture was a bad mother.

“Look if you are insinuating that….” Madam Vulture was glaring at Madam Hornbill for support.

“Accusing anyone of failing to react to this catastrophe is not fair,” Madam Hornbill shook the long beak to emphasize the point. She had no friends at all and she hoped that the present crises might give her a few real allies, especially the olive branch from Vulture. “Revenge tastes sweet if it is a shared effort.”

“But she shouldn’t have allowed man to kill birds with impunity in the first place,” Eagle came back harshly. “That kind of submissiveness will force the man to come back until all of us are finished.”

Just than Madam Duck cackled as she waded her way towards a seat in the corner, next to Madam Eagle.

“These humans are finishing my family, how is it with you Eagle, my big girl?”

“This is what I was saying, something must be done to end these1 horrible killings,” Madam Eagle lifted a wing to scratch the white feathers on the head. “I am worried about losing my youngest boy to this wicked man.”

“kwekweekwekwe!” Madam Duck burst out crying. “As for me, I have lost so many children that I am now going to start praying.”

“How can praying for help in a crisis like this one?” Madam Eagle glared at the friend with mild contempt.” we need practical steps to put an end to this unacceptable loss of life.”

“I have tried everything a bird can do,” Madam Duck swung her wide beak in mock surrender. “This human pest is beyond a bird’s limited abilities.”

“Don’t give up yet, there is no problem without an answer,” Madam Eagle said weakly. She dropped her white-coated head and glared at the vulture with evil eyes. “Together as a team, we can reverse this result of some macabre incompetence among us.”

“Madam Eagle, what plans do you have of dealing with the humans?” Madam Hornbill twisted her neck in mock disbelief. “You know there is no way he can stop killing us once the tasty bird’s flesh entered his mouth.”

 “Get me right, I did not say I have a solution,” Madam Eagle said proudly.

“Then why did you call us here?”Madam Parrot clicked a tongue. “Personally I thought you had something useful to tell us.”

“Parrot! That rebuke is disgusting and downright rude,” Madam Eagle glared at the Parrot with evil red eyes expressive of a distinct yearning. “You may be aware that my husband is facing an election this year. My opponents may pick on such wicked lies to discredit us.”

“But why not declare a state of emergency?” Madam Duck asked. “Just say guys, I am suspending all civil rights until the situation normalizes.”

“I can’t, my sister, the senate has to decide,” Madam Eagle said quietly. “We cannot even meet for fear of this man.”

“That is why dictatorships are good, “Madam Hornbill swung the curved beak in laughter. “A dictator doesn’t spend sleepless nights wondering how to steal an election.”

“Hey someone! How can we deal a severe blow on this human pest,” Madam Duck tried to bring the discussion back to the lane. “I can’t let a hideously cruel two-legged thing wreck my family just like that.”

“Yes, what should we do about these wicked humans?”Madam Vulture asked in despairing fact from the look on the faces all the birds present were now more desperate than when they arrived for the meeting. “We can’t continue watching our children die at the hands of this useless man.”

Just then Owl widened her eyes as if in remembrance, "hey guys who caused that thing ten years ago?”

“What thing?” they all asked with anxious eyes.

“Don’t ask stupid questions,” Madam Vulture rebuked the friend a bit too harshly. “We are busy trying to find an answer not playing silly jokes.”

“It is just that I heard human beings say Bat….” Owl hooted in a somber tone. She narrowly squeezed away from Vulture’s claws.

“I have in store some particularly nasty viruses,” Madam Bat interjected proudly. She was excited that at least it wasn’t her who said it. “Owl is right, man dreads me a lot.”

 “Hey! That is strange,” all the birds turned there heads around to see who could be talking, some spread wings in surprise.

 “But man has conquered thousands of viruses already,” Eagle shouted. “How do you hope to change defeat him with your virus?”

“I was told a good First Lady listens to others,” Madam Bat threw a jab that implied that Eagle was not worth the honor of a First Lady.

“But what is someone without feathers doing among us?”Madam Parrot purred in surprise. She loved Madam Eagle especially the small loans that came her way discreetly.

“She can fly,” Madam Vulture was aspiring for Eagle’s seat. Hoping to make as many allies as possible, she was happy to spite the talkative Parrot. “Tell us more about your viruses, my daughter.”

“I believe you heard Owl hoot about that little trouble man had ten years ago, right?” Madam Bat tried to explain.

“What about it?”Hornbill twisted an incredulous eye. “You want to claim that someone like your type caused the death of humans by SARS?”

“I urinated in the water supply,” Madam Bat said with little drama.

 “But that is unbelievable!” some birds purred in disbelief.

“And how will that help us now?”Eagle squawked disdainfully. This featherless creature would steal the limelight and possibly the seat if ….hey that is intolerable.

“Handled right, it will change his behavior completely. Probably he may even stop killing our babies.” Madam Bat twisted her hairless neck trying to sound very convincing. “Besides, it will leave thousands of dead bodies before he knows what has hit him.”

“Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya! Madam Vulture clapped her wings forcing Hornbill to join in the celebration. ‘Sounds convincing to me, what do you think Madam Hornbill?”

Madam Hornbill nodded the long beak in agreement, “anything that gets at humans is worth trying.”

“But what if man succeeds in blocking the virus again?” Parrot asked. “He is not a fool and always anticipates most of these disasters.”

“Parrot, learn to shut up some times,” Vulture’s whole body was trembling with anger. In his mind’s eye, he could already see streets littered with dead humans-plenty of food to whet the appetite of any scavenger to a point of losing her mind.

“Parrot is right,” Madam Bat came to Parrot’s defense, ‘Let's not ignore all precautions as we launch our attack. That is why this time I will fart to release an airborne virus.”

“Yes! Yes!” Yes!” Yes!”All the birds exploded in a rapturous standing ovation. “This time we have got these humans, they won't survive this one from Bat.”

“Please don’t rejoice too much,” Madam Parrot gawked this time in terrible fear. She did not want to end up in the stomach of any scavenger. “I saw humans do a drill of a lockdown.”

“Even that is good for us,” Madam Hornbill ejaculated almost inelegantly, “because the cursed enemy won’t be moving about killing innocent birds. He may even die of hunger in isolation.”

“I have been trying to kill man also,” Madam Mosquito whistled her contributions as she edged into a seat next to a lamppost, far away from any dangerous beak. “Using malaria I have killed millions of the hated enemies.”

“Your figures are hardly impressive,” Parrot spread wings to capture the tiny legged creature. “Besides, this meeting is for birds, not insects.”

“Mosquito, come and sit here,” Madam Vulture welcomed the noise friend who was too tiny for a meal, “Tell us, how did man protect himself from your malaria?”

“He hides under a stupid net,” Mosquito answered tremblingly. ‘But I have killed so many of his children that he calls me the number one kill… .”

“As your leader, I feel this meeting has dragged on for too long,” Eagle twisted six-inch talons to gesticulate. “What do we do now?”

“Let’s adopt Bat’s plan of using an airborne virus,” it was now Hornbill shaking her huge size as if to discourage opposition.

“What if the humans cover there faces in masks to block the virus?”Eagle asked.

“That is the plan,” Owl came in, her beak moving as if she was chewing. “Imagine all humans walking about with masks. Won’t it be really funny seeing pieces of cloth fluttering on their ugly faces?”

“But how will that affect man?” Eagle was still behind, quite a strange thing in a leader. “Will that stop him from killing birds?”

“It will affect him in many ways,” it was Bat looking her most honest. The tiny ears stood still and her eyes looked deep-set. “My plan is to kill alot of people if he doesn’t change.”

“What you are saying is that man must wear a mask or die,” Hornbill brought in her huge size into the debate. She was shaking the long beak up and down in emphasis.

“He will stop playing football, stop attending churches, and even making noise from bars….” Bat was saying before Parrot interjected.

“That is impossible; man cannot live without football, far less drinking.”

“My virus spreads fast where people are gathered,” Bat explained. “If man continues gathering in those huge groups very soon the planet will be rid of this ugly specimen.”

“So your plan is to change man’s behavior for good, right?” Vulture was mildly disappointed. He wanted corpses for food.

“No, I want to kill human beings,” Bat said.

As the meeting ended, all birds uttered a “whoosh!” when a sharp cluttering sound pierced their eardrums.

“What is that thing, Parrot?” Eagle banged her head on a branch. She quickly dropped down upon realizing that it was not humans raiding there secret meeting.

“It is just a little smartphone…,” Madam Parrot answered tremblingly.

“Do you need a human gadget in a meeting for birds?” Eagle glared at the offending bird angrily now.

“I just wanted to take a video so that I could review the meeting later,” Parrot spread her plumage in a peacemaking gesture.

“Bring it here,” Eagle grabbed the little bird by the neck but released her when Vulture clicked a tongue in disagreement. She was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the device. As she fumbled with the buttons, she accidentally pressed the send button and the video of the meeting hit the airwaves.

“Don’t worry, no harm can come out of this video,” Vulture grumbled in defense of Parrot. That was a perfect time to split Eagle’s team.

Vulture was just in time because Eagle’s talons had already started tearing flesh from the neck of the tiny bird.

All the birds agreed that no harm could come out of a Smartphone. They forced Eagle to hand it back to Parrot who was bleeding profusely on the neck.

At home, Parrot was unusually careless as she watched the proceedings. The president’s son spotted her excited face as she giggled alone in the cage. He thought she was celebrating the spreading chaos in the Egyptian revolution.

“What is that you are watching, Parrot?”Mubarak Junior demanded as he grabbed the smartphone from Parrot’s wings. “I knew it, you like watching blue movies.”

 “It is not me who will fart the airborne virus,” Parrot started pleading for leniency. “I am sorry please, don’t deny me some sugar.”

“What is this nonsense about viruses?” Junior exclaimed. “An eagle in the same tree with a parrot and no one gets eaten up, ha?”

The boy thought it was a video of the century; he reported the matter to the president.

“Dad, come and see this video,” Junior invited his father.

“What video is that?” the old man growled angrily. “Is it about the chaos of riots in the streets of Cairo?”

“No dad, it is…,” Junior was too excited by some video which would be the first break from the daily news of his father’s overthrow.

“Then do me the favor, watch it alone,” Mubarak cut his son’s sentence in a mid expletive. He was also cut in mid-sentence. The next minutes saw him howling in pain as his soldiers bundled his entire family into a prison-bound truck. One soldier grabbed the Smartphone and put it among the stolen property.