© J.B. Norman — Published by Emona Literary Services™
Kat watches cautiously as the weird bird-lizard… thing struts around the room. It’s about the size of a turkey, though Kat has never seen any turkey with claws like that. Its wings end in strange, grasping hand-like claws and the big toe on each foot is huge and shaped like a scythe.
Then again she hasn’t seen many turkeys that haven’t spent a few hours in the oven. She can’t help but wonder if this one is going to be out for revenge…
So, naturally, of course Dunstana would bring it straight out of Kat’s nightmares and into the living room of Darkstone Manor to keep for a pet.
Dunstana stares thoughtfully at the thing.
“She needs a name,” she declares. “Let’s see, how about Patricia? Yeah that’s good!”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to bring that thing home?” she asks her sister.
She’s not quite convinced that bringing home some sort of nightmare-turkey heretofore unknown to science from an uncharted island with a name that means ‘Dreadful Death’ is a good idea.
“Yeah,” Dunstana says. “Why wouldn’t it be? Patricia’s just a bird, right? It’s like just like having a pet parrot! Besides, Mom and Dad say I’m old enough to have a pet now.”
“That is not just a bird!” Dunstana protests. “Look at those claws! And those teeth! Birds aren’t even supposed to have teeth!”
“You’re just jealous that your pet isn’t this cool,” Dunstana says.
“Speaking of, Captain Kid, if that thing hurts Wolf, there’s going to be trouble,” Kat warns her sister. “And —” Her voice travels off and her eyes go wide. “Where is Wolf?”
“He’s fine,” Dunstana says. She points. “Look! They’re friends! Awww. So cute!”
Kat peers across the room. Fearing the worst, she’s pleasantly surprised to see her cat and Dunstana’s pet… monster actually getting along.
“Arf?” says Wolf — born a cat, orphaned and raised by a mother dog and thus overall rather more dogly in his behaviour.
The bird-thing makes a sound like “Wrenk!” and bends down to touch its beak to Wolf’s nose.
They nuzzle for a brief moment. Wolf gently raises his paw to touch Patricia’s face and the bird-thing makes a chirping sound that sounds happy and content.
Patricia lowers herself to the floor, allowing Wolf to clamber onto her back.
“Clever girl,” Dunstana mutters in amazement.
She smirks up at Kat.
“And you thought Patricia was going to eat him,” she says. “But look! They’re a team!”
Soon, Patricia is flapping around the room as Wolf rides perched on her back.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Kat?” Dunstana asks eagerly. “We need to train them to do that on purpose so they can help us fight people. That would be the coolest thing ever! Like, the bad guys would be too busy fighting us that they’d never see Patricia and Wolf coming for them — and then, like, blam! Wolf-tricia to the face!”
“Wolf-tricia?” Kat asks sceptically.
“Yeah, Kat. Wolf and Patricia. It’s their team name.”
More Realmgard Short Scenes here.
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