7

“ ‘Du,’ sang the bird, “ ‘Du hast; du hast mich.’”

And on the “mich” he dive-bombed Mateo.

“Run!” yelled Selena, but it was too late. The bird was tearing at Mateo with its beak. She stared in horror as the sweet yellow bird ripped at the skin on his face and neck.

“SELENA!” screamed Mateo, but she just stood there, paralyzed by disgust and confusion and color.
The bird pulled at one of Mateo’s eyeballs until it popped out of his head. Bright red blood poured from the empty socket, making the veins and nerves hanging down his face like weeds caught in brambles, flailing over the edge of a waterfall. Selena realized she was crying. And then she realized there was another yellow bird and it was pecking at her face. And the pecking was quickly becoming pounding. She put her hand to her cheek and when she pulled it away, it was dripping red.
At that moment the bird pulled out Mateo’s second eyeball and his screaming subsided into a moan. Selena felt something sharp and hard burrow into her ear and she felt talons on her forehead and then she felt nothing at all.



THE END