Backyard Birds

Dear Kadyn, i speak to you in earnest, especially tonight where the night is hauntingly dark with a chill in the air, and the rain falls relentlessly heavy like shards of broken glass from the remains of a blistered autumn night sky where the stars are too meek to peek through and the moon absent and dead to the world. i tell you Kadyn, as usual, i was sitting on the deck looking out while drinking tea. one of the best parts of the day where there was nothing to see through that sea of the unknown other than the musings of one’s own thoughts. rumour had it that in these parts of Cedar, there was a character known as the Bird Man who had once said if you listen carefully enough on such nights, a man could lose a sense of himself and his surroundings and spiral into an unforgiving hell. momentarily abandoning that thought as soon as it had arrived, i thought i heard a rustle in the bushes, perhaps the wind but no, i was mistaken. ” is the Bird Man there ? ” a raspy voice penetrating the darkness and cold air. i was a little nervous but mostly confused, was my mind playing tricks or perhaps just a boisterous and noisy gust of wind ? ” why, who’s there ? ” i shouted back. then as if a moment of indifference passed between us, quizickly the same question but louder strayed my way once again, ” is the Bird Man there ?”  the Bird Man ? Kadyn, so there was truth to the urban legend, whoever was out there had heard of the Bird Man, i wasn’t the only one who had heard that name before now, ` The Bird Man`. my heart skipped a beat and my breathing fell, i quickly grasped for a breath of air and asked who wanted to know, surely it wasn’t Ed ? the rumor in these parts of Ed, the Headhunter ? ” Yes, you are right ” said a hoarse voice like the scratching of brittle dry chalk on a dry as bone blackboard. in a sinister and cunning tone more was said, ” calm your thoughts little man, it is i Ed, the Headhunter, i need to know where the Bird Man has gone, do you know or shall i take your head too when i leave this despicable wasteland on such an ugly night as tonight ? ” i reached for my gut, i felt a sickening feeling in my throat and my head dizzy as my thoughts became erratic, but i proceeded to question that invisible monster in hiding, ” why do you want the Bird Man, what wrong has he done you ? ”  there was a silent pause then the bushes began to stir once again with a shrill noise that cut the air between us, ” if you can not tell me where the Bird Man is then i will take your head instead, ” stormed the voice as it reverberated through my ears and being. I had to think quickly, Ed was a nocturnal creature and too bestial to have any sense of conscience or reasoning. legend had it that the Bird Man would feed the birds during the morning hours. once they had eaten to their content, there was an arrangement with the Bird Man that was understood by all, the patrons of the village who provided the Bird Man with seed for the birds nourishment they would then fly down to the banks of the south-east side of the Nanaimo River known in these parts as Cedar. there, they’d sing their little-lungs-out for hour after hour as if their lives were dependent upon this, bless their little feathers. as if by alchemy, Ed, that savage would soon lose consciousness, his balance and footing, heavily falling, he’d hit the ground with the sound of breaking branches and a good dusting of displaced dry leaves and earth that were protected from the moisture in the undergrowth of cedar and pine boughs from above. Kadyn, this all was a morning ritual. Ed was content on those days when he got his sleep with the aid of all those bird songs in harmony with each other: juncos, chestnut-backed chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, sparrows, finches, towhees, woodpeckers, morning pigeons, quail and steller’s jays. but, they all had to eat and so would busily forage for berries and bugs during those hours when Ed was in sleep and the Bird Man was attending to his other chores. but, dear Kadyn, that is where our story changes. it has been said that there was a day where the Bird Man fell ill as any mortal were capable and consequently became unable to fulfil his duties, and by happenstance Ed was not like any other mortal in these parts and with not the slightest thought of the Bird Man’s efforts on behalf of the patrons of Cedar Village, the bloodiest rampage in any of these parts commenced one night when the moon was full and Ed began his howling as he danced clumsily from grave to grave at the Cedar Valley Cemetery, searching for occupants in the empty shadows for it had been a long day and the Bird Man unbeknownst to him and the good people of Cedar had neglected their responsibility that Ed believed he was entitled as if by priviledge. Kadyn, years later he became known implicitly as `The Head Hunter,` because of the horrific purge that commenced that night in Cedar.Kadyn, perhaps the written words of the why of these matters for another day, but for now was that believably Ed in the bushes, and if so what was his preoccupation and urgency this time with wanting The Bird Man ?