The Potentially Homicidal Bird-man
If you would like to support this free ebook, consider sponsoring a chapter. Thank you!
Previous chapters:
The very first thing Pouli did when he had come down the hill was snatch the few blackberries out of Philothea’s hand and pop them in his mouth. It became immediately clear to her that pretending the man’s behavior was normal was going to take heroic effort.
“Um, Pouli,” she started. “What did you mean about you being a bird?”
“I am a bird,” Pouli confirmed with a nod. “Kiki made me a man to hide the baby.” Then at once, Pouli started impersonating a woman’s voice. He did so with stunning accuracy, “Zeno is coming, Pouli! Hide the baby! Hide the baby! Find a temple, Pouli! Run Pouli! Run!”
Listening to his impersonation made Philothea’s stomach turn. It was deeply unsettling and not just because it was coming from the mouth of a person who clearly shouldn’t have had such a pretty voice. Pouli dropped his impression before adding, “Then I had arms to hold the baby! I was a man. I hid the baby because I am a good bird. I will get a grape.”
Zoe was rubbing the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “So, just to be sure I understand this…” she started. “You were a bird and this ‘Kiki’ turned you into a man so you could hide a baby?”
“I was a little bird,” Pouli stated as if that would explain everything. “Now the baby will make me a bird again! I want to be a bird.”
He looked at Philothea expectantly. She pointed to herself with a nervous smile.
Pouli’s only response was a blink.
“Pouli, was I that baby?” Philothea continued. “I mean, the baby you hid?”
“You will make me a bird,” Pouli replied matter-of-factly. “Your mommy made me a man. You will make me a bird again.”
“How?” Philothea pressed.
“Poof!” Pouli answered.
“I don’t understand,” Philothea exclaimed.
“Listen, Pouli,” Zoe helped. “We are really in a lot of trouble at the moment and Keeper Ruth said that you could help us. So, if can tell us how to find Philothea’s mother–”
“I will get a grape?” Pouli finished hopefully.
“Absolutely!” Philothea chimed in. “You help us and we will give you lots of grapes.”
Pouli seemed pleased with this. He puffed himself up and started singing,
“Pouli’s plumes are beau-ti-ful, a long and regal cape,
Pouli saved the princess and for this he’ll get a grape!”
Pouli is–”
“Na, na, na, stop!” Zoe interrupted. “No singing. You’ve got to stay focused, Pouli.”
The man instantly turned his beady eyes back to Zoe.
“Tell us how to find this Kiki,” Zoe ordered.
“I will take you, but you must make me a bird,” he answered, looking back at Philothea.
“I can’t make you a bird, Pouli,” Philothea answered. She hoped he would be flexible with his terms. She had no idea if all this about him being a bird was true, or if Pouli was a mentally unstable human being. If that was the case, was anything he said true? If it wasn’t, why had Keeper Ruth sent them here? She wondered if the little man was, in fact, the real Pouli or some forest spirit claiming to be. How would she ever know?
“You can make me a bird,” Pouli stated. He suddenly started heading back up the hill toward his cave, motioning for them to follow.
Philothea started after him, but Zoe caught her shoulder.
“You aren’t really thinking of following him, are you?”
“Zoe, I think…” Philothea started. “…I think this is actually Pouli.”
“Yeah…no,” Zoe stated. “This crazy bird man isn’t Pouli.”
Philothea grinned nervously. She didn’t want to argue with Zoe, but… something very strong was tugging on her heart.
“He says he left a baby at the temple,” Philothea explained. “Look, I know he’s crazy but this must be the Pouli Keeper Ruth wanted us to find.”
Zoe had no answer, she dropped her gaze to the ground thoughtfully.
“I’m going,” Philothea stated, continuing after Pouli.
“Fine,” Zoe sighed. “Just… be prepared to hit him with something and run, okay?”
She stooped down and picked up a thick tree branch. Philothea did the same, though if the little man did attack, she wasn’t sure she’d have the nerve to hit him. She hated the idea of hurting anyone, even a potentially homicidal bird-man.
As Pouli scrambled up the hillside, he started a song with a different tune. Philothea only caught a tiny snippet of the lyrics,
“A precious little child will destroy this king so cruel,
The power that she will employ will prove Zeno a fool.”
They followed him to his little cave. Littered across the floor was a strange assortment of items—old pots, nails, bent tools, and other broken oddities. Philothea noticed a basket of bread in the corner and felt her stomach rumble.
Pouli stooped down and pulled something out of one of the pots, then took Philothea’s hand and placed it in her palm.
It was a seal—a seal with a gold K right in the center.
“Make me a bird,” Pouli ordered.
Philothea examined the ring. Zoe was also regarding it with slightly narrowed eyes.
Philothea had no doubt that Zoe was thinking the same thing she was–about the Emperor Zeno’s seal, the one that he had tried on their schoolmates.
“Put it on,” Zoe suggested.
Philothea did so and at once let out a yelp for the very moment she slipped it on, a hum of energy burst through her hand and flowed down her arm. The power continued spreading, tingling through her until it touched every part of her body. For the first time in her life, Philothea couldn’t make a sound. She just stood there, frozen, her mouth hanging open in awe as if she was seeing the world for the very first time.
“You okay?” came Zoe’s monotone voice.
Was she? She inhaled sharply and looked down at her feet. She wasn’t levitating which was a relief. Not glowing either as far as she could tell.
“Um… Philothea?” Zoe who was studying her with those intense dark eyes of hers, looking as close to concerned as she ever came to looking anything.
“I’m fine,” Philothea mumbled. “Just…”
How could she explain it to Zoe when she didn’t understand it herself? It was like she had just unlocked a sixth sense, she felt like she wanted to, or needed to do something… but what?
“Make me a bird,” Pouli repeated.
She looked at him. Strange as it was, she felt like she could actually do it. It would be simple, second nature really.
She held up her right hand in front of Pouli and, trembling with power, she exclaimed, “You are a bird!”
Nothing happened.
Pouli looked down at himself and back at her.
“I am not,” he pointed out.
Philothea thought for a minute and then thrust her index finger at him. “Be a bird!” she exclaimed.
“I am not a bird,” Pouli repeated, frowning deeply. “Make me a bird!”
Philothea grinned nervously and chomped down on her lower lip. She furrowed her brow, thrust her finger at him and cried: “Be a bird!”
Pouli looked down again and then started rocking back and forth on his heels in frustration. “Why won’t you make me a bird?” he growled.
“I can, just…” Philothea sputtered. She could, she definitely could, she could feel it all over. It should have been as simple as taking a step.
Again and again and again she tried using different gestures and different words, but nothing seemed to work. Pouli was growing increasingly irritated with each failed attempt and Philothea increasingly flustered.
“Look Pouli,” Zoe said finally. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
He turned his livid little eyes toward her and screeched. “It will work!”
Philothea’s stomach rumbled. Her arms ached and her knees wobbled as her body struggled to process her new-found power. She was restless and tingly all over and after yelling variations of “be a bird” over and over again, she also felt ridiculous.
Despite her exhaustion, it was Pouli she felt sorry for. While his irritated exclamations were wearing on her, she knew they were the result of desperation. She didn’t care if he was actually a bird in human form or just a very confused human. She longed to the very depths of her being, for him to be whatever the Holy Creator intended him to be. And with that deep and honest longing, came a loud“poof”.
The Fables of Para Sympan 