Page 54 of The Scientist
“A bird?” he asked, trying to decipher what I was saying. “A bird is in your house?”
I nodded fervently, still trying to catch my breath. Relief seemed to wash over his expression.Why he appeared relieved, I couldn’t begin to imagine. After all, I’d just been attacked by a psychotic bird in my own kitchen!
“What kind of bird?”he asked.
“Hawk… eagle… pterodactyl! I don’t know! It was huge and flew straight at my head, trying to peck my eyes out.”
A smirk played across his face during my rambling. “Do you want me to take a look?” he offered.
“Yes, please,” I said in a small voice.
He started walking toward my house, and I followed close behind. I felt like clapping and chanting,“Hercules! Hercules!”but thought better of it.
“Be careful, Lex. It had murder in its eyes.”
He continued smiling and pointed at the kitchen. “In here?” he asked.
“Yes! Scene of the crime.”
He pushed open the door and I closed my eyes, ducking behind him, ready for another attack.
“That monster right there?” He pointed to an innocent-looking robin perched on one of my cabinets. I guess it wasn’t exactly pterodactyl-sized, but still.
“Don’t let him fool you. That miscreant likes to attack when you least expect it.”
He chuckled lightly. “Do you have a spare blanket or bedsheet?”
“Yes!” I said, elated that he was going to take care of this for me.
I went to the hall closet and pulled out a bed sheet and handed it to him. He walked slowly into the kitchen with the sheet spread wide between his hands. The little beast wasn’t paying attention. It was too busy pecking at its feathers when Lex threw the sheet over it. I yelped when I heard the sound of it trying to fly again, but Lex secured the sheet around it and walked the little demon outside, releasing it once he reached the threshold.
I threw my arms around him, hugging him from behind. It started out innocent enough, but my brain immediately registered the hard lines of his muscles as I held him.
Down, girl.
“Thank you! Thank you!”I cried.
That was the last time I’d leave my windows open to let the cool night air in. The birds in New York would never have tried to pull something like this.
“No problem,” he said with laughter in his voice.
He handed me back the bed sheet once I finally let him go. I could still feel the heat from his body as we stood there staring at one another.
He cleared his throat. “Alright well… have a good day.”
“You’re leaving?” I asked pitifully. I was still feeling keyed up from my near-death experience and didn’t want to be alone.
“I was going to go for a run… unless you think he had a partner in crime you need me to check for.”
I shook my head. “No. There’s no way a creature that evil managed to make any friends. He was definitely flying solo.”
“So then…?” he asked, wondering what more there was.
“I guess I’ll be okay,” I muttered pathetically. I just needed a minute to pluck up the courage to go back inside and try to shake off the feeling of bugs crawling all over me.
“You could come with me… if you wanted to,” he added quickly.
“You want me to go for a run with you?”