SHORT STORY: TO KILL A [MOCKING] BIRD by DUSAK

[Dusak]

My own interpratation of this well known classic. I hope you will enjoy it.

Elroy Smallwood crept through the undergrowth with his usual stelth, which was surprising as he weighed in at over two hundred and sixty pounds.

He was your original work shy slob, detested by the rest of the small town community, even his own parents would have preferred it if Elroy fell down one of the many disused vent shafts that littered the hillside which he frequented every day. But they knew that they'd have more luck winning the Stateside Lottery than of that ever happening.

Elroy was sweating like a pig, his fat greasy hands gripped the twelve shot B.B. as if it were part of him, which, to some extent, it was. He slept with the rifle, even taking it to the john with him, never letting it stray from his sight, it being his only 'buddy'. Elroy slipped another pre-loaded clip into the breech, having just emptied the previous one into a small doe, the reason for the vast amount of sweat that now saturated his immense bulk. The young doe had led him a merry chase all through the woods, but it had been worth it, the full clip had emptied rapidly into the soft flesh. The rifle itself wasn't powerful enough to kill the defenceless creature, but that's how Elroy liked it, his victim to be left to bleed to death or be ripped apart by its other, more natural, enemies.

He was leaning against a tall Redwood when he first heard the strange chattering, obviously a bird of some description but one that Elroy didn't recognise. Elroy peeped around the wide trunk, the sound seemed to be originating from somewhere up ahead of him, but the bird remained concealed, as if it were watching him, but not wanting to be seen itself. A sudden movement to his left caught the corner of his eye, a rabbit came bobbing into the clearing, coming to rest while quietly nibbling the grass. Elroy shouldered his rifle, taking his usual steady aim, his fat finger started to curl around the trigger, just a little more pressure and....

The large bird came zooming out of the trees above the rabbit, deliberately scaring away Elroy's next intended victim. Elroy cursed, emptying the full clip wildly into the air in an attempt to gain revenge for his loss. But the strange bird proved too quick and cunning for Elroy, swooping low into the undergrowth. Elroy quickly re-loaded, that bird was going to rue the day that it had dared to cross Elroy Smallwood's path.

The sweating hunter stood silent, listening intently for that strange chattering sound to return. Nothing could be heard, the whole area was silent. Elroy pulled out a can of warm Tab from the large front pocket of his dungarees, he drank greedily, unbuttoning his flies at the same time, feeling the need to relieve himself. Steam rose from the base of the tree, Elroy giving out a long sigh of pleasure. Then he screamed.

Elroy dropped the can of Tab as he launched himself backwards, hitting his crotch with the flat of his hand in an attempt to kill whatever it was that was attacking his member. He rooted, eventually pulling out the squashed remnants of a wasp, the sting remained embedded in the end of his child's thumb size penis. Elroy winced as he attempted to grasp the sting with his dirt laden finger nails, noticing with a certain degree of alarm that his pride and joy was already increasing in size, a fact he would have been happy with under different circumstances, but not this one as it hurt real bad. Elroy grabbed the fallen can of Tab, sluicing the inflamed member in an attempt to quell the firey pain. He re-buttoned his flies, hoping that the discomfort, and especially the swelling, would go away.

A rustling sound to the far edge of his vision caused him to squint through the sweat in his eyes, there was his target, perched on a small branch. The large crow like bird had a streak of white leading from the top of its head to the tail feathers, a species completely unknown to Elroy, but if the bird had been rare or in danger of extinction that wouldn't have mattered to him. Elroy didn't waste time aiming, just lifting the rifle and keeping his finger on the trigger untill the clip was empty, pumping furiously on the barrel after each shot. He wiped the sweat out of his eyes, the bird had disappeared. Breaking his cover he eagerly ran over to the spot, needing to rip what ever it was to pieces to quell his anger. Elroy scratched furiously at his crotch as he ran, his own body sweat was causing continual discomfort to the injury. As he reached the branch that the bird had used as a perch Elroy soon discovered that there was no sign of his quarry, not even a fallen feather.

Elroy scratched his head, turning to look in all directions in utter dismay. Again the woods lay silent. Elroy opened another Tab as he waited, throwing his head back as he gulped the first mouthful. It was then that the hunter became the hunter as the bird swooped low, ripping a chunk out of Elroy's ear with its razor sharp beak. He screamed, using the rifle as a club, swinging it around wildly in an attempt to defend himself. Again the bird arrowed in towards him, slashing deeply into the nape of his neck. Elroy ran as fast as his bulk would allow, coming to a sudden halt as he tripped on an unseen root. He fell heavily, to the sound of a loud snap, causing him to yelp out in pain, knowing immediately that his ankle was broken. Now he was mad. His crotch throbbed, his ankle burned with pain and the blood from his head and neck wounds was already beginning to saturate his shirt. All because of a blasted bird! He'd also lost his can of Tab, the liquid refreshing the sun burnt ground instead of his throat.

Elroy was panting heavily as he attempted to shift his weight around to a more comfortable position, pulling at the laces of his tatty boot to free the already swelling foot. He tenderly felt the puffy flesh, walking would now be difficult, but Elroy was stubbon, deciding there and then that he would get that bird even if it took all night. He replaced his hole ridden sock, chose to leave his boot off, not that he could have got it back on if he had wanted to, with all the swelling. He used his rifle to ease himself up off the ground. Elroy's sweaty hand slipped on the breech of the rifle, causing his thumb to catch on the trigger. The weapon popped, sending one of the small ball bearings up and into the underside of his chin. Elroy squealed like a stuck pig, once again falling back down onto the hard earth. A small trickle of blood pat patted onto the lap of his already stained dungarees, an area that he once again scratched vigorously at. End of part one. Dusak 2009.