Big Feather
The other day we found something. Out on a hike near the cliffsides, one of us spotted it on the ground. It was just laying there as if it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. And yet, it was very much the opposite, something that none of us could quite explain away. Something that could change the very understanding we have of the world we live in. It was… a large feather.
Now hang on there, I know what you’re thinking. A large feather? What planet do you live on that a feather could change anything? But, you don't understand. Big was a woefully inaccurate description. It was massive, many times longer than any of us were tall. The scale boggled the mind. Any plans we had prior ceased to matter in the face of this discovery. We needed to find whatever it belonged to, though a name was discussed first. I wanted to name him Marty, but was out voted by those that decided Bigfeather as in like Bigfoot, y’know the cryptid that… you get the idea. I still liked Marty.
Two days later, we held a midnight mass style ceremony on the cliffsides to summon the feathered beast with several of us dressing as devoted acolytes adorned with cloaks and feathers. And of course, an offering was required; a large pile of fresh produce amassed beneath the stars to entice the creature forth.
Hours passed without a single sign. But just as the early morning sun began to peak up over the horizon, a shadow descended. With ravenous glee, a giant feathered creature devoured the spread. Snapping up pieces of fruit by the dozen and swallowing them whole in the matter of mere seconds, we watched in awe as it demonstrated just how large its appetite was; a fact that left us with a fresh perspective on the subject of our ceremony. Unfortunately, Marty wasn’t satisfied. After everything had been decimated down to little more than a fine paste smeared and splattered along the rocks, its eyes turned on us, stomach rumbling, revealing further emptiness to fill. An emptiness that nothing short of a good source of protein could fill of which there were plenty gathered to choose from.
