Twenty Grand

Rayna Scott about 1,200 words

10 Derby Ln Saint Peters, MO 63376

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(816)730-0656

Twenty Grand

by Rayna Scott

Whack! The Titian Ostrich punts Lost in the gut. Lost skids across the ground twenty feet and crashes into a boulder.

The ostrich trots back and forth with its head held high. Its rigid, orange, petal-like feathers cling tightly to its body.

Lost grunts and hoists herself up. “This is starting to annoy me,” she says. She adjusts the black scarf over her mouth and whips out a sword with a smooth round point.

The ostrich glares at her and charges.

“That’s right, come on,” Lost says under her breath. She rummages in her thick coat pocket and tosses out a group of caltrops. They sprinkle the ground in front of the ostrich.

The ostrich darts toward her. It steps on the sharp caltrops and stumbles. It lets out a low-pitched howl and topples over.

Lost springs into the air and lands on top of the distressed ostrich. She wrestles it into submission and uses both hands to pluck a feather from its back. The feather makes a crunching sound, like biting into an apple. Lost stands up and slips a black notebook out of her pocket.

The ostrich scrambles to its feet and takes off.

The scent of fresh notebook paper wafts from the book as she riffles through its pages. “This one is worth thirty dollars,” she says as she sets it on a blank page. She closes the book and sighs. “Time to head home.” She puts the notebook back into her pocket and hikes up a lush hill. Black and white feathers litter the ground, clinging to the blades of grass. Lost walks past them and continues to climb.

The ground softens under her feet. Lost looks down. Before she can react, the ground breaks, and she plummets ten feet into a cavern. She maneuvers in midair and lands on her feet.

A waterfall roars, and a pink mist sprinkles over her. The pink mist sizzles and devours her coat.

Lost slips a card out of her pocket and throws off her coat. The jacket evaporates in a cloud of peach-colored smoke. Lost pricks her finger and drips her orange-colored blood on the card. She chants a spell under her breath, and a sleek, invisible coating covers her body.

“What type of water is this?” she asks herself as she walks over to the flowing pink water. “Pink acid? Like in the legend? That means…” She jumps into the acid river and swims toward the waterfall. The acid bubbles around Lost’s skintight shield. She swims through the waterfall and into a hidden cave.

A giant pink flower bud illuminates the cave in a warming pink glow. The silhouette of a creature moves inside the flower bud.

“It can’t be.” Lost heaves herself out of the acid lake. An earthy scent hits her nose as she ventures further into the cave. Her invisible shield disappears, and she trots over to the giant bud.

The flower bud trembles and slowly opens. A giant crane-like bird with indigo-colored sparkling feathers emerges from the blooming flower.

Lost gawks up at the crane. “Each feather is worth twenty thousand dollars.” A mischievous grin sweeps across her face. “You’re mine!” She sprints toward the crane.

The crane squawks. Its voice sends a shockwave rippling toward Lost.

She takes cover behind a stalagmite and braces herself.

The crane flaps its enormous wings—a gust of wind tears through the cave.

Lost wraps her arms around the stalagmite.

The wind crashes into her. It howls as It pries her from the stalagmite and sends her hurtling into the air.

Lost puts her fingers into her mouth and whistles.

The ceiling above the crane collapses. Boulders smash into the crane, pinning it to the ground.

An oversized giant shoebill lands on the rubble. Its ominous yellow eyes glare over its enormous, orange shoe-shaped bill. It extends its charcoal-colored wings and catches Lost before she falls into the acid lake.

“Cutting it a little close, huh, Birch?” Lost says. She repositions herself and clings to Birch’s feathers.

The crane squawks and rises out of the rubble. It takes into the air. It spins around like a drill and launches toward Lost and Birch.

“Let’s finish this,” Lost says.

Birch’s sharp eyes lock on the crane. It skillfully dodges the crane’s pointed beak.

Lost hops onto the rotating crane. “Whoa!” The world seemingly spins at a fast rate. She clings onto its feathers and closes her eyes. “I’m gonna hurl!”

The crane flips around and continues its attack on Birch.

Birch dodges and grips the crane with its talons, stopping its rotation.

Lost opens her eyes and yanks at the crane’s feathers.

It squawks and shakes Lost off.

Birch catches Lost and opens its large mouth, and clamps it around the crane’s neck.

The crane shrieks.

“That’s it, Birch, Don’t let him go!” she says. She flips onto the crane and grabs a sparkling feather.

The crane breaks out of Birch’s grip and soars through the hole in the ceiling with Lost clinging to it.

“Birch!” Lost screams.

Birch follows the crane high into the sky.

Like fighter jets, the two massive birds attack one another and maneuver around each other at a blinding speed.

Birch repositions itself behind the crane and shoots its sharp, dagger-like feathers at it like bullets.

Lost gasps and ducks.

The crane dodges.

“Hey, watch it!” Lost shouts. She grips a single feather and uses her foot to help her heave it from its place. “Come on!”

The crane corkscrews toward Birch.

Lost rips a feather from the crane’s back.

The two birds collide.

Lost loses her footing and plummets out of the sky with a sparkling blue feather in hand.

Birch shakes off the attack and dives after Lost.

The wind howls around her and wraps her in an invisible embrace. I guess this is it for me. Lost thinks to herself. I got what I wanted but in return…

Birch catches her.

The crane launches itself like a missile and tackles Birch in midair.

Birch and Lost plunge out of the sky. Birch wraps its wings around Lost as they crash on the ground.

A ringing goes off in her ears as she unearths herself from Birch’s grasp.

Birch’s massive wings flop on the ground.

“We did it!” Lost says. She holds up the glittering blue feather. “Twenty thousand dollars, and it’s ours!” Her eyes drop down to Birch.

It lies still with its menacing eyes shut.

“No, no, no.” Lost cradles its large head and strokes its feathers. “Please, Birch. Don’t do this. This feather means nothing if you’re gone.”

Birch doesn’t respond.

She sighs and lays her head on its head.

Birch’s eyes open, and its large, orange beak claps, its upper and lower bill clinking together.

Lost’s eyes spring open, and she pushes away from Birch. “You’re not funny!”

Birch scrambles to its feet and bobs its head in amusement.

Lost rolls her eyes and groans. “Drama king.” She slips her black notebook from her pocket and places the shimmering blue feather inside it. She flips the book closed and climbs on Birch’s back. “Let’s go shopping.”

Birch spreads its wings and takes off.