Eric Moffett – two short stories

‘Blast’

Today was supposed to be a day of relaxation for me yet it was anything but that. The day started out fine, I awakened this morning to a bright new day; the sun was shining, birds were singing and I could hear and smell my partner in the kitchen making breakfast. So I got out of bed heading straight for the bathroom to tend to my toiletries. As I grab the soap to wash up, I thought about surprising Carly today. I just didn’t know what that would be as of yet. After finishing, I went to the kitchen and gave her a kiss on the cheek and she bid me a good morning and with the same breath, asked if was going for a run. I told her that I have other plans this morning and that it very well may be something that you have dreamed of. Carly handed me a plate with eggs, grits, bacon and toast, and the best part about this is; she always does it with love in her eyes. What more can a man ask for? She joined me at the table with coffee in hand, questioning me about my plans. I told her to get a bag together for an outing at the park. Carly exclaimed, “Zach, I love you!” You see, we haven’t been out together in quite some time now, so her excitement was understandable, to say the least.

The park is really a man-made lake with sand on its beach. You can rent lounge chairs or any type of water-craft to enjoy the lake. There’s a place for camping or picnicking, which is some of what I had in mind. As breakfast came to a close, Carly headed to the bedroom to prepare for today’s outing, which left me to clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. After turning the washer on, I went towards the bedroom down the hall, stopping in the doorway to admire Carly’s sensuous body as her back was to me: man, I’m a lucky guy. She hadn’t noticed me yet, so I continued to watch as she packed the flowered-pattern tote-bag that sat on the bed with a blanket, sunscreen, insect repellent, sandals, a straw sun hat, and some other beach items we may have need of. I entered the room, walking up behind Carly, and wrapped my arms around her. She molded her mody against mine, enjoying the lovely embrace with a sigh of contentment. I released her with reluctance and we finished packing for the outing at the beach.

Finally packed, we were on our way. Turning on the main road leading to the beach, Carly and I both notice that something was different. That difference was the field of assorted colored tulips on both sides of the road, which wasn’t there the day before. It was mind-boggling to see such a sight, given that this area was thick with woods only yesterday. Then out of nowhere; a roaring sound came to our ears. We trace the sound to the sky and see that an object was hurtling toward us. Carly screamed, as I smashed the gas trying to get beyond the impact area. Moments later, there was an explosion behind us, flipping the car through the air as we blacked-out from the concussion of the blast.

‘Bird’

To find Peace in a world as ravaged As this one is extremely hard to come by with all things one is faced with on a daily basis. There are apex predators, wars and people who care for no-one or things around them, yet I got lucky somehow.

It all started on a bright summer morning a few weeks ago as I awoke singing to the appearance of the sun. It filtered through the foliage of my home tree, warming my feathers with its radiate heat, as I opened my eyes to a new day. I hopped upon my nest to stretch my wings for flight as the sounds of the day reached my ears. Crickets chirping, grasshoppers wings fluttering in flight, beetles scurrying through the leaves, cars roaring in the distance and people with their constant chatter. My home tree is located in the back yard of a house that is yellow in color with a family of five, and a mean ole cat who wants to eat me. The yard has a swing-set, an oak tree which is my home, various toys about, plus a bird bath. As I perched upon the edge of my nest, my belly growled in expectation of something to eat. I scanned the yard in search of that mean ole cat and came across a new object in the yard. So I focused on this object and saw that it had holes in the top of it, not big enough for me to pass through but could see through.

And to my surprise, there was food beneath it! The cat was nowhere in sight, so I took flight down to this object and landed next to it. I don’t know if you heard but birds are very curious and it can get us in to a feathery situation. I hopped closer to it for a closer look, just close enough to peer underneath that box shape object. There were seeds, morsels of bread and what turned out to be worms as I later found out. All seem to be okay therefore I snatched a morsel of bread and nothing happened- I hopped off a little ways being vigilant of that mean ole cat because he could spoil this buffet made for one. Seeing that he was nowhere around, I enjoyed that bread and was eager to get back for more.

After I finished it off, I hopped back over like a starving dog to eat as much as I can before that cat showed his face. As I gorge myself on seeds and bread there was whoosh and thunk sounds. My instincts took over. DANGER!! I took flight to get away from a danger I couldn’t perceive and flew head first into the side of that object. I flew around in a frenzy with feather flying around everywhere, trying to understand why I couldn’t get out. In the mist of my frantic, I realized that the peaceful world I once knew was in all likelihood, over with….

Eric Moffett