More RATTLER’S TALE Stories
by Anthony North
for
Friday Fictioneers
dVerse
Poets & Storytellers United
The Sunday Muse
in association with
KEYUDOS
PHOTO PROMPT © Douglas M. MacIlroy
BIRDIE
Birdie loved windows.
He’d perch there and watch – especially the tech.
It was everywhere nowadays – tech.
Phone, alarm – a man by a laptop, writing.
Not that Birdie knew what they were.
He didn’t have consciousness like humans do.
Though he was smart.
Birdie stared, and the writer stared at Birdie.
Eventually the writer got bored – went back to work.
And Birdie stared some more.
Finally smart Birdie had seen all he wanted to see.
He uploaded the passwords and droned off.
THE EX-WIVES CLUB
It had taken her a long time to contact him.
‘Yeah, reader, I married them …’ he said …
‘… Madonna, Lady MacBeth and Lucy.’
She said: ‘But you never divorced. And you weren’t exactly faithful.’
‘Hey, I’m a modern man – the freedom to roam and all that.
‘And let’s face it, neither were they. They even swap familiars.’
‘The simple fact is,’ she interrupted, ‘you had no respect for women.’
‘Yeah I did. It’s just that I wanted to respect them all.’
She broke in once more: ‘No, you were a nasty, insidious womaniser.’
She was getting angry now, and realized how easy it was to …
She didn’t have time to finish.
As any medium knows, emotion breaks the circuit, his last words echoing in the ether.
‘So how long are they going to stand on my grave … ?’
Book 28 of 68, A Family Loss: A Crime cum Horror Novel, out 27 April
But what did the bird do with the passwords?
Good question 😉
Ha ha – you got me!! Great story, Anthony.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Thank you Susan, much appreciated.
Clever and funny, Anthony!
Many thanks, CE
Dear Tony,
This gives new meaning to “A little birdie told me.” 😉 Enjoyable story that made me chuckle in the early morning hours.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle, glad it gave you a chuckle.
So mundane yet captures the interest from start to finish.
We both went for birdie this week. 😀
Thank you Tannille
Clever Birdie.
Indeed 😉
That twist at the end is golden!
Thank you for that.
An original take on the prompt, Anthony
Thanks Lynn, glad you liked it.
This puts a new angle on password protection
It does indeed, Mike
Ha, very clever! I enjoyed your take on the prompt.
Thank you Clare, very kind.
That’s a dangerous birdie sent by a smart spy.
Oh no! Now wrietr’s work will be copied?
Beware of birds!
Stay safe.
Hi Anita, yes you’ve got to be careful of a birdie at the window nowadays 😉
Very funny. Birdie now knows enough to earn him a crust or two, if only he could pass his info on.
Hi Sandra, indeed.
Now we know where that expression “I heard from a little birdie” comes from… Spies!
Yes, don’t trust them, Dale 🙂
An amusing tale! I particularly enjoyed “He didn’t have consciousness like humans do.”
Thanks for that Penelope. Glad you liked it.
Birdie will be able to buy a condo in a tax-heaven somewhere…
You could be right.
Never underestimate animals. That’s the first step in the animals reclaiming the planet. That was fun and quirky.
Thanks for that. Much appreciated.
Oh my, what a great twist! All so innocent, and the WHAM.
Thank you for that. Very kind.
Great surprise at the end. And what did he do with the passwords? Why, he uploaded them to his flock. And I don’t know what happened next 🙂
Hi Linda, maybe it wasn’t really a bird at all.
It’s the future of spying! Nice one 🙂
Yes, I fear it will be.
I presume he/she is storing them in the cloud?
Could well be, Doug. Welcome here.
I like birds and often watch them out of my window, but Birdie comes across as sinister. What does he want with the passwords?
Hi Kim, ah, he liked windows, smart, and droned away. The question is, is it really a bird?
I like how Birdie got the passwords. Must be another piece of tech.
Hi Frank, he is indeed.
Delightful!
Hi Linda, thanks for that. Much appreciated.
Love this! I wonder what the bird did after uploading the passwords 🙂
Hi Sanaa, thanks for that. Much appreciated.
If dolphins can be trained to deliver bombs, why not let loose the spy-birdies? In the South, women were named Birdie, or was it Bertie?
Hi Glenn, very true
These seems somehow related or leads to “a little birdie told me.” Who can you trust these days?
Who indeed, Colleen.
I laughed at the ending! Nice story. 🙂
Thanks for that. Glad you liked it.
Nice end. 🙂
Thank you. Much appreciated.
Clever disguise for a drone, and a clever story!
Thanks for that, Liz. Much appreciated.
i’m with liz. it must be a drone designed to look like a bird. 🙂
You could be right there 😉
Oh, oh, duplicitous bird, he looks so innocent as well. Nice twist at the end
Thanks for that Michael. Much appreciated.
Ex-wives club! I love the direction you went with the Muse Anthony, and that last question through me for a loop with a smile. That birdie is wonderful too. Have a safe and wonderful weekend Anthony!
Hi Carrie, many thanks for that. Glad you liked them.
‘Emotion breaks the circuit’ ~ across the board so to speak?
And he certainly gets his comeuppance.
LOL. I love the thought of all the women standing on his grave harranguing him…hell hath no fury………good one, Anthony!
Many thanks for that, Sherry.
Brilliant use of the Sunday Muse photo! Bravo
Thank you for that Bev. Much appreciated.
Love the birdie.. and messing with exes is never a good thing…
Hi Susie, so very true.
Well done, both. I particularly like the Ex-Wives Club!
Thank you Othermary, very kind.
I really enjoyed the story especially the ending where the circuit gets broken and the last line spoken
Thank you for that, Marja. Very kind.
Nice, like the ending, made me laugh
Glad to be of service, Dom. Much appreciated.
I appreciate your line, “emotion breaks the circuit,” if that is one of the laws of behavior the they wrote the book wrong. Anthony’s Second Law of Human Behavior.” Women are born with it.
I also smiled, a friend of mine had four wives, serially. He was late for his funeral because he was snowed in at his girl friend’s house up in Wisconsin. But his four wives made the funeral on time.
..
Ah ,it happens, Jim 😉
Just what we needed, a good laugh when things are sent to try us.
Glad to oblige, Robin. Few things are more important than laughter.
The plot thickens! Well-played!
Thanks for that, Frank. Glad you liked it.
“The even swapped familiars”, lol! For some reason, that made me burst into laughter. Thank you for that, Anthony.
You are most welcome 🙂
will not trust any bird after this! anyway, drones are doing a lot of stuff nowadays, from surveillance to defusing bombs.
and what a grim, chilly tale in the ‘ex-wives club’
But with a hint of humour, too?
Enjoyed both of these–loved the similar ways observation insisted on slipping through privacy guards 🙂
You’re teaching me things about my own mind, Chrissa 🙂
Exes seem to be persistent, don’t they? (And we’ll leave it at that.)
Maybe best.
I think Birdie has a posh new birdhouse and gourmet feed coming into his life soon.
I think you’re right, Rommy.
Wonderful story telling … authentic and compelling. A pleasure to read.
Thank you, Wendy, very kind of you.
That grackle wouldn’t leave me alone yesterday. Watching and mocking. Waiting above my truck for the right moment to leave its mark…
Oh crap! lol
Oh I loved both pieces!
Thank you Thotpurge, much appreciated.
Loved those ex-wives, Anthony,. Clever take on the prompt. Birdie is cool!
Hi Sara, many thanks for that. Glad you liked them.