How I Died As A Cow

Clocking Close to Death

PART TWO
CHAPTER 4
"Clocking Close To Death"
A rushing sound boomed through the hollow rooms of the cabin we stayed in. For a day that required nothing but communication, a wretched, nearly broken, tall clock rendered everything silent. First, the mocking bird darted his eyes toward the screen, peering at the time. Then in unison, every animal stood still to give each other a quick glance.

You could almost feel the pool of nervous energy drowning our predetermined sorrows and beautiful woes as the clock stopped sounding so harsh. Maybe it sounded harsher than usual because we couldn't accept the truth beyond us. It was finally time.

The mockingbird flew to the ceiling without much trouble and held his flight for everyone to greet his grim smile. "The clock has dawned and I've come to chirp the truth. A night we call midnight is here, which also means freedom is near. True freedom."

The mouse readied her sardonic teeth, watching as a troop of animals march outside. She grabbed a piece of cheese from the hole she had lived in for many years and ate it gleefully. She looked as ready as I felt since soon a lingering worry clouded my judgement fast. At first, I thought this was what I wanted, a life of revenge, a cry for help with power of many. I thought I wanted power, and freedom when all I needed was..

Kite unexpectedly patted me on the back, whipping out a bottle of prescription pills. His smile instilled a truth I hadn't quite cracked, a truth waiting to be revealed. 

"Something tells me the world is going to change when you save it. It's almost like a prophecy waiting to happen. But when choices become us, there's no turning back, no?" the sheep shook the bottle like a bag of candy while I just glared at it. The sound of the pills shaking, it took my mind to places. As with the bell of the old clock, the pills rendered me silent as the rest of the animals continued to walk out.

"You need to leave. The world doesn't need heroes. It needs love." I spoke willfully, surprised by my own words. My lips began to tremble under the black stripped sheep's eyes. I had to move forward if I didn't want him to catch me falling apart.

Kite shook his head willingly, lowering his arm from my back. "No. You see, that's the thing about the world, Lowell. It's a massive pool of emotions, a crevasse of decisions, a rain of happiness and madness so there's never gonna be a time when it all just stops happening. You want something to change? You find a way to contain it, then seek a resolution to end everything. Not the destruction." 

Then something strange showed. Kite snapped the pill bottle open, twisting the top until it smacked the ground with its light weight. The dumb sheep didn't look so stupid as I thought, his eyes settled into me. It was like he saw right through my motivations, aspirations, everything. For a moment, I thought my true self was revealed from Kite, though I quickly crawled back into a dark cave of twisted memories and wretched plans. 

As I continued to the door, Kite grabbed my leg just before I walked outside, still insisting I take the mysterious pill. He said it'll help me in battle if I was to still continue on with my antics. I'll be honest, I didn't want to kill anybody, though I saw it as the only way to justify my family's death, the death of all those animals who fought for their life on that dark night. Maybe I was wrong.

Selfishly, I snatched the pill from Kite's hand, hoping my aggression would scare him back to wherever he came from, but it didn't. He just stood there by the door, watching as the army of animals march forward into the mystical forest. The sheep was the only one at the wooden cabin, and he decided not to follow anyone. I turned toward the troops as I gulped the pill down, feeling it's affects after a few seconds. 

Minutes later, I pondered whether the sheep was the sharpest person I've met because he dismantled this whole operation with no difficulty. The pill would not only help me in battle, but it made me slaughter the animal army like the humans did to my family.