Dawn at Cambrai - La Mort d'Un Oiseau (4) (448 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 2 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Hadley Tobedone (View user info) at 2005-08-16 13:12:18 EDT
Part 1 - Abstractions: http://www.ubersite.com/m/69763
Part 2 - Das As: http://www.ubersite.com/m/69961
Part 3 - Men In a Box: http://www.ubersite.com/m/70772
It had been a long time since Henri had heard the drums. He had never seen them but the sound - deep, ominous rumbling - always reminded him of the kettle drums he had heard when his father took him to the symphony in Paris. He lay back in the grass, letting the sun bake him as the vibrations rose through his body.
His eyes closed and he could almost see his father, trying to get the kite out of the tree. Try as he might, Papa could not stay angry at his smiling son. Henri beamed as Papa got the kite free and sent him away from the trees to play. A gentle breeze picked up, and Henri tossed the kite upward, watching it slowly -
"Henri!" His mother's cry brought him back to the present. He stood and waved so that his Maman could see that he hadn't wandered off. For some reason, she didn't like him playing outside when the drums started. They usually made the men come out and Maman always made him come inside when they did. He looked into the trees but saw no sign of anyone. Good. Henri didn't want to play inside today.
Out of the corner of his eye, Henri saw a butterfly land on a flower. With a laugh, he began to chase it, jumping and giggling. He was so engrossed with his prey that he almost missed the buzzing sound, slowly growing louder. He looked up just in time to see a plane fly overhead. Butterfly forgotten, Henri began to run, waving and calling out, "Allo l'Oiseau!" The plane banked over the trees and Henri called out again but the pilot, as usual, didn't wave back. Disappointed, Henri kicked at the dirt and looked over at the trees l'Oiseau had disappeared over. He was starting to think that l'Oiseau didn't like him. It was clear that he had been seen. The first time Henri had noticed the plane, it had circled around as though the pilot was trying to determine if Henri was of interest. Now he just flew away without a second glance at the lonely boy.
As he looked around, Henri found that the butterfly had disappeared. With one more glance around for l'Oiseau, he walked back toward the house picking flowers. The last ones he had given Maman were all brown and the petals were falling off. As long as Papa was gone, Henri would take it upon himself to make sure that Maman was happy. He wanted to make Papa proud of him.
He knelt in the grass, arranging the flowers into a small bundle. He looked up as he heard l'Oiseau's buzzing again, but something was wrong. L'Oiseau was flying low, barely above the trees. It seemed to Henri that when the plane passed overhead, he should be able to reach up and touch it. Henri was frozen as l'Oiseau dropped toward the trees, jerking up at the last second. Part of the tail was torn off, showering the air with small slivers of metal. Henri called toward the house, "Maman, l'avion tombe en morceaux!"
The next time he looked back, l'Oiseau had hit the treetops again. The wheels were ripped off and the plane had gone into a spin. As l'Oiseau sped past, his eyes locked with Henri's for a moment. Henri heard two distinct screams, one deep, the other higher-pitched and feminine, before the house and l'Oiseau erupted in a ball of flame.
With a sob Henri knelt in the grass, flowers clutched in his hands, while his tears splashed into the dirt.
User Reviews
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2005-10-10 21:45:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-08-18 03:24:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good stuff man.