CRUMBS [a short novella]

Chapter 5: croissant

Shadows loom high overhead. Something dark approaches. Parker runs in a panic through the streets. He breaths quickly, gasping for air. Even his short breaths can't keep up with the quick beats of his heart.

The liveliness of the city is replaced by an eerie silence as an intense screech pierces the sky. Parker halts to an immediate stop, standing motionless as the heavens turn a ghastly green. Something possesses him. He feels like a marionette following every move of a higher master.

Mind drifted, his feet move him forward towards a feathery creature. "Hello there" it squeals in childlike speech "I'm special". The creature slowly cocks a haunting smile, "...and you're dinner!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Parker jumps to his feet. The pitch of his own scream woke him. He's in the alleyway of Mozzarelli's pizza shop.

Sigh. Just a dream.

A look to the left, a look to the right. A look up (which from experience should have been the first place he looked) and a look down. No bird, no pizza crust. Now, this bird is a gluten-thief too.

Parker's stomach growled in anger. It's been rumbling since that part of his dream where he kissed a winged croissant. Parker shivered at his apparent desperation for intimacy.

"Hello there!" Seto squeaked from behind him.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Parker ran around in circles. Eyes bulging, wings flapping, tail shaking.

"It's just me! Seto!" the little bird said, with her crooked wing flapping wildly to bring Parker to a halt.

Maybe he saw Seto's crooked wing and felt sorry for her. Maybe he was out of breath. Or maybe he realized that a creature with a crooked wing doesn't stand a chance against his ninja moves. Regardless of what it was, Parker stopped running around and decided right then and there that he would stop being afraid.

Fear makes you run around in circles. But bravery gets you from point A to B.

Looking quite pleased with herself, Seto picked up her little newspaper made sachet and placed it down in front of Parker. Apparently, he wasn't the only one with a raging appetite. Having felt bad for the other day, Seto left the alley this morning to fetch them a breakfast treat. Thank goodness, Parker thought. Finally some food. Well, sort of.

Parker stared with disgust at the squiggly live bugs that were emerging from the newspaper sachet. Gross. He wanted a doughy delight, not slimy bugs squirming around the New York Times paper.

The newspaper! That's it!

Now Parker's bird brain jumped with glee. He remembers now. Cerulean Warbler. Those were the words he read on the newspaper yesterday, right before it slammed him on the head.

"Not hungry, let's explore!" Parker exclaimed cryptically.

With that Parker led little Seto around the east side of midtown Manhattan. This flightless bird was going to get one of the best ground view tours of the city, and in the meantime Parker was going to find yesterday's paper.

Killing two birds with one stone...so the saying goes. Just don't tell that one to Parker. He's paranoid.

Big Parker and little Seto strolled together. They dodged camera holding tourists, they snuck past gorgeous blondes in Manolo Blaniks, and they hid from Wall Street men with briefcases.

For once, Parker was not steering clear of newspapers. Now he was waiting for them. He thought of pissing off a few New Yorkers. That way the newspapers would find him. After thinking about it for a moment, Parker didn't like his chances, given that he was looking for yesterday's paper.

In true gentlemanly style, Parker showed Seto The Flatiron Building, the Fountains of Stuyvesant village, Union Square, and Gramercy Park. Surprisingly, Seto even dared to take a bite of a leftover Shake Shack burger Parker nudged her to eat.

For just a moment, as the two birds nibbled at the infamous Shake Shack burger, Parker forgot what the mission of the day was. Just for one moment, he looked at Seto and smiled.

"Can I see that tall building with the pointy top?" Seto asked. "It was one of the last things I remember seeing before I fell. Maybe I can find out why". Parker knew right away what she was referring to. The Empire State Building. The building of all buildings. She had admired it from the sky and Parker had admired it from the ground.

It's a beautiful thing when two different perspectives can agree to something. So Parker agreed. "Ok. I'll take you there. But it'll take a day or so". That was fine with Seto, and that was fine with Parker. After all, the search for the day old newspaper would take longer than he thought.