Dead Birds of Summer

One

Two 

Three birds as alive as they could be.

Now lay dead in a shallow sea. 

They used to live in the bushes right near our window. Mom said it was good luck for the mama bird to have chosen us to lay her babies in our bushes. I doubt that. The only reason why the mama bird lay her eggs near our house was because we were the only house on the block to have thick bushes near our house. There weren’t a lot of trees around in our neighborhood so bushes had to do for the birds around here. 

"Today is going to be yet another day of sweltering heat. You think yesterday was hot? Toddy’s is even hotter. It's strongly advised that you stay inside and if you don't, make sure to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen," the TV news reporter dozed on while fanning his sweat soaked shirt. There seemed to be no dry spot on his body at all. 

"Ughhh!" I groaned while crouching deep into the couch. The weatherman had been saying the same thing for the past few days. Each day was getting hotter and hotter.

"Sit Up!" My mom snapped while giving me a dirty look. She hated when I did that. “One day you will sit like that and your back is going to be in the same position. You’ll start to walk like grandma” she would scold. But I never listened. We were in the same situation as we had been yesterday, and the other day, and the other day too. After hearing the weather report, mom probably wouldn't let me go outside. Even if I asked, I would probably get the same dirty look like before but it was worth a try. 

Before I could manage to ask her, the phone rang and mom went to pick it up in the kitchen. Snooping around, I heard mom talking to one of her friends based on how happy she sounded. Now I had my opening. " Mooom! I’mGoingInTheFrontYardToSitForAWhile.Love You!" I swiftly said before running to grab some water and rushing out. I heard her screaming my name but I knew I couldn't stop now. It was now or never and I, like a dog that seeing an open door, new this was my chance and I was out in a heart beat.

It seemed I had forgotten about the heatwave that had swept through town because the second I stepped outdoors, the sun immediately had the on its daggers at me.The sun's rays pierced through my skin the second I stepped out and it blinded me for a few seconds. The hot air stinger my nostrils as I breathed in. Running back to my porch that had a little bit of shade, I tried to figure out a way to keep playing outside. While I was waiting for the sun to stop throwing it's daggers, I heard some kids laughing in the bushes. "Who’s There!" I shouted. That’s where the birds were. I rushed to the bushes to see the neighborhood triplets, Dan and Tammy and Julie holding the three baby birds in their hands. The triplets were notorious for destroying whatever was in their paths. They would kill whatever cat got loose from their owners house, throw rocks at car window if they weren't in the garages, and other reasons. As much of devils as they were, they never got in trouble because their dad was the head chief of police. " I'll give them a beat down." He would say and shrug it all off. No charges were ever filed because the "beat downs".

When they saw me they started to run with the birds in their hands. "STOP!" I screamed while chasing after them, but they were merely laughing. We ran past all the houses on the block, past the abandoned church, and all the way to the lake that curved into the next town from us. We were now near the lake and my whole body was on fire, trying to breathe the hot air made it worse. I screamed for them to stop but they wouldn't. With my last attempt, I threw my water bottle before everything went dark. I couldn’t run any longer and I knew that I wasn’t going to catch up to them. I walked to the edge of the lake and my worst thoughts of the birds became a reality. There they lay. One. Two. Three little birdies lying dead in the water. All of the heat from my body was no more and now I shook from cold. The heat of the summer was no more. I carefully lifted each bird from the water, carefully wrapped them near my chest and went home. 

When I got home, I buried the birds and quietly went in for moms wrath. “Tommy!!” She screamed, but I didn’t bother to stay for the lecture. I just went into my room and cried the rest of the day away. 

“Hey Tommy, did the baby birds learn to fly already?” My dad asked the next day

“Yeah.” I simply replied. He nodded a little bit before going back to watching the news. My mom on the other hand couldn’t stop crying for a few hours. Every now and then when I looked at the window, the mamma bird would fly over to the bushes with insects or worms in its beak, an arrive to an empty nest and leave. It would do this a couple times before not coming back to the nest anymore. 

I couldn't shake off the dead birds. 

They seemed to be everywhere I went. 

I would stare off in the distance and they would be there lying in the corner of my eye. If I would turn around, they weren't there. They were now in my dreams, just three limp birds flapping there dead wings. 

"It's going to be another hot one guys, again let's stay indoor and if you do go outside, then you are crazy." The weatherman drowsed on once more. It seemed everyone was crazy. Our AC stopped working yesterday and since we didn't want to be in the house to burn up, we went camping near the lake. "It's the birds, we have bad luck now." My mom whispered before making the sign of the cross.

When we got there, the chief of police and other policeman were there also. "Stay in the car." My dad instructed me before going to talk to the officer. It didn't take long before my dad came back without saying a word and drove us back home. "Honey, what's wrong? What happened back there?" My mom asked."The triplets are missing and they haven't been seen for a few days now " he answered back quietly. My mother gasped and shook her head quietly before everything went back to being a quiet ride back home.