A Messenger from Nephelokokkygia

A Murder in the Park

Chapter 1: A Murder in the Park

At this time the birds also had their own language which everyone understood; now it only sounds like chirping, screeching, and whistling, and to some, like music without words. It came into the birds' mind, however, that they would no longer be without a ruler, and would choose one of themselves to be their king.

--The Brothers Grimm, "The Willow-Wren"

Until her sixth year on this Earth, Grace thought everyone could talk to birds, instead of just her. She was now seven-soon to be eight-and knew better. It is important, so early on, to explain what was truly extraordinary was that the birds talked back.

You might say "Oh, that's not so amazing. A parrot once talked to me." Maybe Polly (there seems to be some law mandating all parrots have that name) once asked you for a cracker. But, can you honestly say you shared a conversation? Small talk, maybe, but nothing close to a discussion. The difference for Grace is that after crying "Polly want a cracker!" the parrot might then wink to her and boast "See how well I've trained my pet human? Now watch them clean up my droppings!"

Every call, quack, coo, or caw you might have heard out a bird's mouth carried a secret meaning as perfectly obvious to Grace as Polly trying to shake you down for a treat. That is the way to think of it: a secret. If a secret can, in fact, be held amongst millions of creatures. From puffins at the North Pole down to penguins in Antarctica, there is nowhere birds cannot be found. This was particularly evident in the city Grace knew. Birds from every other spot in the world came there. If not by their own wings, then by boats or planes and, once, even a lawn chair supported by balloons.

Whenever it became known a girl understood them like no other human could, birds sought her out, usually to ask for things. She tried to oblige, but there were so many, and not all asked politely. There was also the issue of some requests not being very sensible. Not all bird species possessed equal intelligence. Some breeds proved incredibly stupid, with very little worth saying. Of course, they still spoke, usually much louder and more often than the intelligible birds. Chickens, for example, made poor conversationalists.

On a hot, humid day, Grace and her mother, whose name was Desdemona, were celebrating Juneteenth on a farm owned by relatives. Around lunchtime, the girl decided to scoop a few red beans off her plate to feed to some chickens. This went fine until a short (yet still very plump) hen angrily barged over demanding to know the time. "It's of the utmost importance!" the hen said with a high-strung squawk. "I heard the sky might be falling any minute now!"

Grace found her father, whose name was Daniel, and inspected his wristwatch. The one painted gold with all the "I's" and "V's" and "X's" on it. Translating to regular numbers, she answered "It's 12:22 P.M."

"Oh good." The hen sighed with relief. "That means the world hasn't ended yet. But it still might happen soon! What time is it now?"

"Um... 12:23 P.M," Grace mumbled. This went on for hours, and all the gathered family laughed and wondered about the chicken following the girl around so intently, long after she finished handing out beans. Grace did not at all feel bad when her hosts slaughtered, skinned, barbequed, and presented the hen for supper. The bird was just that annoying. On the plus side, she tasted delicious.

Geese were smarter than chickens, but that hardly made them nicer. From spring to autumn, they commandeered all parks in the neighborhood, bragging about beating everyone up and complaining that their winter homes were far superior to where they presently chose to settle.

There were the birds who lived in the city year-round. While they ran the gamut from kind to cruel, same as humans, they fundamentally shared the quality of loudness. Just stepping outside her home plunged Grace in the middle of a hundred conversations all running at the same time above, below, and beside her. Little wonder, then, she had limited time to spare for other humans, especially strangers.