“You lost, girl?” Billy, holding a Granny Smith, leaned against the haystack. He bit into it and winked.
“No!” Serena argued. “I mean, I don’t think so. I followed the bird.” Stress tugged at her head, and she pulled on her auburn-brown hair. It reached down her back and wafted with a warm gust of wind.
Billy finished his apple. He pushed off the stack and approached Serena. “Bird or not, you found my farm.”
“Farm?”
Billy led Serena to the haystack and pointed beyond it to an old, abandoned barn sitting before a flourishing cornfield. “The farm. My home.”
His home? Didn’t he have parents? Serena thought about asking, but her attention moved to an enormous Thoroughbred standing before the farmhouse’s front door under an apple tree.
He yanked off two apples at once and smiled at Billy and Serena. His coat was shiny and brown, and he sported black legs with four white socks.
“That’s Zen,” Billy explained. “He looks after the animals when I’m away.”
“Animals?” Serena pinched herself to ensure she was dreaming; however, Billy still stood before her. “What about your parents? I mean, not that we need them.”
“Oh, for sure.” Billy waved his hand. “My folks left us years ago.”
“Really?” Both impressed and bewildered, Serena checked her phone. “I mean, lucky. Who needs parents when boys like Todd are in San Francisco?”
Billy smiled. “Hey, if you in no rush, let me give you a tour. Unless you in love with this Todd guy.”
Was she? This Billy was hot with his ponytail, overalls, and shin-high cowboy boots. Now that she thought about it, Serena never hung out with a guy. She tended to watch them from a distance. Being close to one sexually confused her.
Serena distracted herself by thinking about her nail polish set. When she eventually peered up from her phone, in place of Billy was that same ovenbird, perching on the haystack like a cat on a climber.
“Billy?” Serena called. How long had she spaced out? “Billy?” She passed the bird and headed toward the farm. “He may have gone to the farm.”
“Chirp! Chirp!” The bird flapped its wings and soared in front of her.
Serena offered it her index finger. “Do you know where he went?”
The bird settled on her finger and tilted its feathery head. At that moment, Serena noticed it was missing a chunk of its neck feathers. She considered asking what happened; nevertheless, the bird chirped before she did.
“Chirp! Chirp!” It was like it said, “Animal farm! Animal farm! Billy there!”
Serena recalled that novella. She recently finished it for her summer reading, and now it unfolded before her eyes. Who was Billy? Was the barn his Animal Farm? Why did his parents abandon him? Serena had so many questions but so little time and one too many distractions. Regardless, she wasn’t sure if she was blinded by love or the bird’s mysterious aura.
She wondered if it was both.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5exD293O9
End of Short Fiction One!
Word Count: 1,000
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