Sawyer wasn't supposed to live. But, as luck would have it, he escapes the massive yet nasty Farelli Poultry Farm only to find an abandoned farm pained with secrets, lost hope, a slew of nutty birds and a dangerous beast that may very well hold all...
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Ella's ears stiffened as if a coyote had slipped through the door, pointing directly at the bottle tied around Scotty's leg. She lowed in her stall, narrowing her eyes.
Scotty slipped out of the knot and placed a wing on Sawyer's back. "Careful," he warned, folding back his wings. "Open it when you need to use it."
Sawyer ducked under Scotty's wing and studied the bottle's slender shape; black dirt concealed whatever was inside.
"What is it?" asked Sawyer.
"You must promise you won't tell General I gave this to you?"
"It's General's?"
"Promise!" shrieked Scotty, cupping his mouth to not bring attention. But it was too late. Ella kicked her back legs out, sliding her muzzle towards them.
Scotty leaped in front of the bottle to block her view. "Well hello, there! Splendid evenin', ain't it? You look lovely, my de'r."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head, not the least bit amused.
"I promise. What is it?" asked Sawyer.
"A flip. A very dangerous flip." Scotty tiptoed around the bottle examining it one last time.
"Flip?"
"Foot Slip. The Giants like to call it a "sock," but that's the dumbest word I've ever heard. What exactly is a 'sock', anyway? Sounds like my Aunt Misty right before she got chomped in the great big blue!"
"That's terrible."
"That was a lie. I never had an Aunt Misty. But if I did, that's exactly how she would sound." Scotty flapped his wings and cawed to the ceiling. "Sock! Sock! Sock!" He covered his mouth again, stopping himself from waking the others.
Sock actually sounded a lot like "Scott," which was pretty much Scotty's given name, but Sawyer decided to leave it alone and let the wisecracking seagull have his moment. "Why would General keep a flip?" he said instead.
Scotty cleared his throat. "I heard from Buster that it was worn by his soldier friend in the war. It has traces of somethin' called wolfsbane. It'll knock this beast outta here."
"Wolfsbane...sounds fantastic..."
"It wards off wolves...and Snakewolves."
"And General had it the whole time?"
"He'll have my head if he finds out I gave this to you. That's why you have to go tonight. Get rid of it and come back before morning."
"Tonight? I...I..." stuttered Sawyer, pacing back and forth.
"I could have given this to Iddy, you know. He's been waiting for somethin' like this for so long..."
"Why didn't you?"
"I don't know," he replied. "You don't seem as angry. You both want the same thing yet your heart is here and his heart is up in Buttsville."
A sickness began to coil in the pit of Sawyer's stomach, pushing the grains he ate earlier up his throat. He wasn't sure if the stench coming from the bottle made him feel this way or the startling realization that what he was asking for all day was now at his toes, waiting for him. "So here it is. The mighty flip," he whispered to himself.
Scotty heard the quiver in his voice, then closed one eye keeping his other eye open. "You ain't gonna do it," he realized.
Sawyer wanted to slay The Snakewolf, swoop through its legs, jump on its tail and up to its head and stomp and cluck until its brain exploded. That's what he dreamed about anyway. That's what his brave self would do, but Sawyer wasn't feeling all that brave yet. Instead, he swallowed the food trying to leave his body, and froze.
Scotty shook his head. "You mean, I put my neck on the line for ya? For nothin'?" He leaned closer to Sawyer's beak. "I should have gone to Iddy. An angry, brainless bird will fight without care." He slipped his foot back in the knot and pushed the bottle near the exit.
"Wait!" clucked Sawyer, taking a deep breath. "I'll do it."
Scotty jumped out of the knot faster than a zippy dragonfly. "I knew I could count on you." He kicked the bottle to Sawyer and backed away to the exit. "Even if you're scared stiff," and flew away.
Sawyer rolled the bottle beside his cotton bed and sat on the white fluff, staring at the flip for a long time, listening to his own heart tick like a climbing rollercoaster.
He thought of General and his words on bravery. But nothing helped to ease the sickness, so he tucked his head within his breast.
That is when Ella began to hum her tune. It was soft and low, transcendent. He didn't turn to her right away, he waited, letting the sweet hum warm his body, then he opened one eye and watched her.
"What happened to you?" he asked, but she never said a word. She continued to hum, ending on a lower drawn out note. "Why don't you ever talk?" Then silence.
Sawyer let out one big breath, tied the string around his leg and proceeded to the back exit, the bottle dragging behind him. This was it. No turning back.
Ella whimpered, watching him walk out of the barn.
The night was brighter than it had been all season. The moon hung low, clouds vanished, and the stars spread across the black.
Down the beaten path, weeds had begun to grow inward, narrowing the line. Sawyer made it far into the trail until the bottle started to weigh him down, and he stopped and raised his head only to find the roof of the farmhouse breaking through the center of the moon. Silver light draped over the uneven shingles, exposing pieces of its deck. The house looked menacing, fitting for a monster. He forced himself out of his paralysis and took a step off the path and into the field.
Suddenly, a shadow emerged in front of him, and Sawyer screamed a cluck, tripping backward over the bottle.
***Thanks for reading! And please don't forget to vote! Next up, Sawyer finally confronts the Snakewolf!
