Land of 10,000 Thrills by Greg Herren

Author:Greg Herren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down & Out Books

The restraining order came in June. I wasn’t allowed to come within five hundred feet of Angie. If I tried to make contact, I would be arrested for violation of the order.

I tossed it in the firepit, but before I could light it, the crow swooped down. He grabbed the paper and flew away, struggling under its size and weight.

I chased him down, running through the gate and into the front yard. A bubble of laughter rose in my throat as the conversation played out. No, I didn’t read the order, officer. A crow took it.

The crow landed in the middle of the street in a whirl of white pages and black feathers. I dug in my pockets for a peanut, a crumb, anything to give him. All I had was Angie’s pineapple. It had slipped through a rip in my coat lining and the police hadn’t found it when they arrested me. Now it had become a talisman, a symbol of everything I knew and couldn’t prove.

“Good bird. Good job. Hang on.” I checked my pants pockets, looking for a reward.

The crow paced around the restraining order, his bad wing drooping, until a car came around the corner. He spread his wings to take off, but not fast enough. The bumper clipped him as the car sped down the road and disappeared.

“No!”

I ran to the curb, dropping next to him. His eye was open, unmoving. His wing, bent at an impossible angle, was motionless. I looked for the smallest stir or rustle, any sign that his lungs were still inflating. There was nothing.

I moved his wing back into place, the feathers as silky as they’d always looked, but matted and sticky now. As carefully as I could, I scooped him up, cradling his limp body.

I didn’t know how long I sat, rocking back and forth in the gutter. Cars drove by. Pedestrians crossed to the opposite sidewalk, six feet not far enough away. The restraining order caught in the wind, blowing into a parked car and down the block.

I heard the crows before I saw them, first one lone caw, then multiplying into a chorus. Perched high above the street, blotches marring the budding green, they called over and on top of each other, a sentinel of noise. An older couple hurried away, alarmed by the number of birds above them, the volume of their anger and grief.

A shadow fell over me. The serial killer stood on the curb, wreathed in a halo of screaming birds. He stared at the black shape in my hands, then leaned over and took the crow from me.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

He turned and walked away.

“Give him back.” I chased after him, stumbling over his precisely manicured lawn, through a cedar privacy fence, and into his backyard. He handed me the crow in front of his shed, transferring it back so gently that new tears pricked into the corners of my eyes. I didn’t know what to say. He turned, unlocked the door, and moved inside.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.