#FridayFlash: Secret War of the Birds

Wing Commander Hollowquill wasted no time when she heard the "in-coming! in-coming!" alert from the forward observers. She hadn't felt it yet, but it was only a matter of time. She readied the defenses.

The air grew crowded with the racket from the observers, but… there. A disturbance in the magnetic field, invaders coming from beyond the sky. In other places, Eagles defended the world from the invaders, but this was Hollowquill's territory. Her sensitive magnetic sensors pinpointed the invaders' path down. She trained her laser, leading just a little, and fired.

Walking below, a human looked around at the "tschuu tschuu tschuu" sound. Down the block, other birds were raising a hell of a racket. "Stupid bird, sounds like a space laser," he laughed, and walked on. Behind him, a mother bird brought the morning's bounty to a hungry nest full of babies. The Earth was safe for another day.

17 comments:

Tony Noland said...

Heh... how little we know of the dedicated soldiers that protect us.

Funny one, Larry.

Icy Sedgwick said...

I won't make so much fun of the mad bird noises I hear outside now!

John Wiswell said...

Okay, I'll forgive their early-morning chirping this once.

Tim VanSant Writes said...

That's an impressive first line of defense. Nice one.

jackkholt said...

Ha! When they poo on me if means what exactly?

Nice one, Larry.

Aidan Fritz said...

It's a good thing Earth doesn't rely on humans to protect it. I love the names you chose for this one.

boran2 said...

Ha! Very good, Far! It's a bird-eat-bird world out there.

Helen said...

I could here those alarm calls - This goes on in my backyard frequently when my cats take a stroll. ^_^

flyingscribbler said...

I never trusted those birds: they fly in perfect formation, of course they communicate on a level far superior to ours. That's not tschuu tschuu they're saying.

Steve Green said...

We have several bird feeders set up in our garden, so I'm hoping we will get extra-special protection from the members of the air defense squadron. :)

Craig Smith said...

Birds are a lot smarter than we think. Nice little snippet Larry :).

Larry Kollar said...

Thanks Tony!

Icy, JohnW, I'm sure they'll appreciate that. ;-)

Tim, it's the only line. They hold it well.

Jack, it means they think you need some fertilizer!

Aidan, thanks. Even bird watchers haven't caught on yet…

Boran, that wasn't a worm Hollowquill brought back to the nest. ;-)

Helen, cats are one thing — but if you hear those laser noises, better duck!

Flyingscribbler, they've been defending Earth for a long time. Long enough to evolve magnetic field detectors.

Steve, I'm sure they appreciate it — you haven't been abducted by aliens yet, right?

Thanks, Craig. And that pic you sent was pretty funny!

Cindy Vaskova said...

Ah those birds! They never cease to amaze...I should be paying more attention to those sounds and those flights from now on.

Nice story Larry! :) Really liked it.

xantojones said...

I love birds even more now! All I ask is that they don't poop on my car! I loved this story!

Larry Kollar said...

Thanks, Cindy! Just remember to duck when you hear lasers…

Xanto, a little car splat is a small price to pay for their saving the earth every day!

modernscheherzade said...

Gives the expression 'bird brain' a whole new meaning, what with the birds evolving their space defence weaponry :)

Fayne Riverdale said...

Fun story! An expose on the unknown unknowns!

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