THE TOWER

   The tower had always been there. It rose ominously from the center of the sprawling coastal village, its dark brick surface pitted and weather worn. On top of the tower nested an enormous black bird. It sat silhouetted against the sky, waiting. Each day as the sun rose from its ocean slumber, and the first rays of light broke across the streets and alleyways, the people in the village peered in terror from behind drawn curtains. Who would it be today? A schoolteacher? The paperboy? No one knew. Not yet.
    The bird, awake and alert, turned its dark ugly head in nearly a full circle, as birds do, and in a flurry, it’s wings exploded to full span. With a shrill screech and with talons extended, it launched itself from the tower. It circled once, then descended sharply and determined in a straight, taut line. It swiftly zeroed in on its selected target. Who had been careless? Who had thought they might cut a fresh flower or two before breakfast? Who had miscalculated their before dawn stroll? Had a child raced through an open screen door, attracted by a butterfly among the shrubbery? In minutes everyone would know what the victim already knew.
    With a crash and a flurry, the bird plummeted behind a line of houses. It emerged in a blink and quickly flew to its place of rest. It carried a pitiful figure kicking and struggling, hopelessly doomed. A muffled voice tried to scream, wanted to scream, but it would not come out as powerful talons crushed its body. Ah, it looked like poor Mrs. Pendergast. Mrs. Pendergast lived alone. Her children were all grown, but she was not an old lady. She loved to garden during the day and gaze at the stars at night. The night before had been a clear night, a very mild and pleasant night. She had lain there in her garden hammock looking at the stars: the Pleiades, Orion – had traced with her finger the edge of the Big Dipper to find the North Star and wondered what it would be like to navigate the oceans, to be on a tall ship, to follow the stars to distant places on the globe. The rolling of the sea, the swinging of her hammock in a light breeze, and she had fallen asleep. She dreamed of being on a clipper ship sailing among the stars.