Mystery
Background that is pertinent to the mystery.
1. It had been raining hard most of the night.
2. It was raining when my older two boys went to school.
Christian taught Warrick to ride a bike a week or two ago. He loves to do this and begs to do it often. One morning he was out soaring around and feeling free. After a few minutes he burst into the house declaring, "Emergency! Mom we have a mystery! There's blood!" Now some might panic at this declaration, but if you do, then you have not been living with a bunch of boys for the past several years. I have learned to not panic unless you see hard evidence that there is a reason to panic otherwise you will forever live in an adrenalin bath.
Anyway, I put on my shoes and went out. I have to admit that I was surprised that there really was any blood. It was on our lowest step in front of our house. It was a rather large drop too. My mind started to race. I knew it was fresh because of the recent rain showers. I also knew that it had to have happened since the boys went to school only minutes earlier. If it had been one of them bleeding then they would have come and gotten me, but also, the rain, when they were leaving, would have washed it away.
Warrick started leading me on a blood trail that went along the front of our house. The drops were every few inches. I tried to picture what may have happened. I pictured someone coming out of the gate by which led to our backyard and walking in front of our house and then walking towards the neighbor's house. Was there a person walking around wounded? Was he dangerous? (Of course I assume the masculine pronoun because that makes it more scary. But now that I think of it, maybe I should have imagined a female. I've now decided that had I imagined a female, it would have been scarier. Oh well - next time.) Then I noticed the drops. I could tell the way they were shaped that the bleeding thing was traveling toward our house, not away from it. I know this because I'm smart. I made a mental note to check our yard when I got to a stopping point.
We kept walking and Warrick kept pointing out the drops with his finger and placing it much too close for my comfort. I cringed every time I thought he was about to touch the blood. We got in front of one of our neighbors. (A friendly couple they are and I really like them too, but with accents so strong that our conversations consist of me smiling, nodding and chuckling every now and then when the time seems right. I'm not sure what I'm agreeing to, but they still seem to like us and still give us a big wave as they peek out of their front window or sit on their front porch.)
It was when we got in front of their house that we spied a breakthrough. A few scattered feathers. "Warrick, I think we solved the mystery. I think Chelsea caught a bird and brought it back to our house."
"There's a bird in our yard!" Warrick exclaimed as though this information had not been pertinent until this moment but more of a crazy coincidence.
It turns out that the bird right near the first blood spot. Yes, a mystery indeed. I wonder what he thought before he burst into the house that morning and declared the red alert. Maybe something close to, "I wonder where that blood came from that is right by that dead bird - we must investigate!"
Side note: The bird was large around the size of a pigeon. The tuft of feathers where it was caught was only feet away from the bowl of seeds the neighbors place out for the birds and squirrels.
They call it a bird feeder and Chelsea calls it a bird trap. I think the birds will be happier when we have gone.
1. It had been raining hard most of the night.
2. It was raining when my older two boys went to school.
Christian taught Warrick to ride a bike a week or two ago. He loves to do this and begs to do it often. One morning he was out soaring around and feeling free. After a few minutes he burst into the house declaring, "Emergency! Mom we have a mystery! There's blood!" Now some might panic at this declaration, but if you do, then you have not been living with a bunch of boys for the past several years. I have learned to not panic unless you see hard evidence that there is a reason to panic otherwise you will forever live in an adrenalin bath.
Anyway, I put on my shoes and went out. I have to admit that I was surprised that there really was any blood. It was on our lowest step in front of our house. It was a rather large drop too. My mind started to race. I knew it was fresh because of the recent rain showers. I also knew that it had to have happened since the boys went to school only minutes earlier. If it had been one of them bleeding then they would have come and gotten me, but also, the rain, when they were leaving, would have washed it away.
Warrick started leading me on a blood trail that went along the front of our house. The drops were every few inches. I tried to picture what may have happened. I pictured someone coming out of the gate by which led to our backyard and walking in front of our house and then walking towards the neighbor's house. Was there a person walking around wounded? Was he dangerous? (Of course I assume the masculine pronoun because that makes it more scary. But now that I think of it, maybe I should have imagined a female. I've now decided that had I imagined a female, it would have been scarier. Oh well - next time.) Then I noticed the drops. I could tell the way they were shaped that the bleeding thing was traveling toward our house, not away from it. I know this because I'm smart. I made a mental note to check our yard when I got to a stopping point.
We kept walking and Warrick kept pointing out the drops with his finger and placing it much too close for my comfort. I cringed every time I thought he was about to touch the blood. We got in front of one of our neighbors. (A friendly couple they are and I really like them too, but with accents so strong that our conversations consist of me smiling, nodding and chuckling every now and then when the time seems right. I'm not sure what I'm agreeing to, but they still seem to like us and still give us a big wave as they peek out of their front window or sit on their front porch.)
It was when we got in front of their house that we spied a breakthrough. A few scattered feathers. "Warrick, I think we solved the mystery. I think Chelsea caught a bird and brought it back to our house."
"There's a bird in our yard!" Warrick exclaimed as though this information had not been pertinent until this moment but more of a crazy coincidence.
It turns out that the bird right near the first blood spot. Yes, a mystery indeed. I wonder what he thought before he burst into the house that morning and declared the red alert. Maybe something close to, "I wonder where that blood came from that is right by that dead bird - we must investigate!"
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| Master Hunter |
They call it a bird feeder and Chelsea calls it a bird trap. I think the birds will be happier when we have gone.
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