| He poked out his short greyish-white beak from the shrouding plant, which was followed by a vibrant green and red feathered head. He looked around with never still eyes to see that this place was nothing but a lifeless barren wasteland of dead grass, fallen feathers and dirty water. There was no apparent danger around, despite most of his instincts demanding him to stay where he was. The bird ignored them as best he could and ran bravely into whatever he could find for cover in a search for his meal. He was so quick all that was seen was his long beautiful black-barred tail vanishing into the next batch of wild plants. And so, our beginning story of a mass enigma is about the pheasant.
Now, these game birds are usually very numerous in numbers. This pheasant himself once had three females at his side, but what some beings of this area call the Speeding Death had taken all of them recently. But it wasn’t just pheasants which were struck by this menace, but unaware foxes, rabbits and hares, and many other animals too. As the pheasant plucked up some fallen sumac berries, he suddenly noticed the silhouette of what was undoubtedly another bird. With a berry still in his beak, the pheasant flapped his clumsy wings loudly and rose to the air to land on an elm tree branch. There was then a loud bang before he had even begun to perch himself. The unidentifiable bird in the distance fell to the ground lifeless. The pheasant, too scared to move, remained where he was motionless. He thought that he should probably get out of this area altogether as he had nothing to stay for other than hiding. “You’re either very brave,” started a cocky voice from below, “But I guess a more foolish bird for being out in the open and making such a noise, especially after seeing that.” The poorly disguised pheasant peered down curiously. He noticed, but only just barely, a glaring pair of yellow eyes lurking within some shrubs. It was soon obvious to be a fox as he stepped into the early light. His fur was not the usual red or orange. He was actually an unusual silver fox. Despite this drastic difference, the game bird did not reply and ignored him. “The clouds are getting fainter and the sky is getting lighter,” the canine continued looking up past the pheasant. “So you might want to come down and hide before the Speeding Death strikes you.” The pheasant peered down with one eye uncomfortably. “I say! For now I am happy where I am thank you!” “Suit yourself, bird,” stated the fox in a mellow tone. “I am not going to eat you, plump as you are. It is not often you see any other animal around these days so I merely wanted to say hello.” The pheasant looked away, noticeably at where the other bird used to be earlier. “Yes,” the silver creature smiled cheekily. “You've noticed.” With this, the fox turned around. With a flick of the white at the end of his black bushy tail, he vanished back into the shrub without trace he was ever in the open. Meanwhile, the pheasant remained even more uncomfortably where he was to have a quick peer around. There was no sign of the so-called Speeding Death, yet the silver fox was right - it was getting lighter. The bird had already eaten the last of the sumac berries, and didn't want to go down to look for more. It was time to move on. He left the branch and flew poorly into the dead open grasslands. The silver fox watched and soon skulked behind, but with intentions unknown for he had an emotionless face to him. UNFINISHED. |
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| MASS ENIGMA #1: The Speeding Death |
| An exceptionally colourful, but rather nervous bird, could be vaguely seen to be hiding deep within some dodder shrubs. Why was he hiding? All one could say is that not one soul of any other species of creature had passed him in all this time, in neither air nor land, while it was also curiously quiet all around. Unfortunately, the anxious bird could no longer stay in the safety of the dodder, as his hunger took over any fear. As it was now coming to dawn he decided it was time to emerge and swiftly forage some seeds and berries to eat. |