The Case of the Upside Down Birds
Photo courtesy of Katy Mattox
My very talented 14-year-old nephew, Ben, is the guest writer for this story. He and I wrote this as an end cap to my May photo and short story contest to promote my novel, Guardians of the Keys. Enjoy!
In the spring of 2022, right after the peonies had bloomed, Vincent P. Dingle noticed that all the birds around his house were flying upside down. He was weeding his turnip and parsley patches when a golden finch soared by his head, its tiny feet sticking straight up in the air and its wings flapping down and up.
“Ain’t that a sight to see!” exclaimed Vincent, wiping his sweaty forehead before returning to his task at hand.
It wasn’t until he went inside to feed his parrot, Arthur, that he spied two cardinals zip past his window, each one upside down.
Now alarmed, Vincent looked at Artur and whispered “Not you too?” when he noticed Arthur hanging upside down on his perch.
“Not you too?!” Arthur mimicked in a quivering voice.
Vincent ran over to his window just in time to see a tidings of magpies in the air. All upside down.
The old man took his binoculars from the shelf and shuffled outside. By the time he was in his front yard, a variety of birds were passing through the sky. Through his binoculars Vincent identified a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, a parliament of owls, a band of jays, and even what he thought could possibly be a convocation of eagles.
Vincent scratched his head. “Why is this happening?” he wondered out loud.
Vincent walked back inside, into his library, and grabbed his bird-spotting book. He opened to page 223 in which he found the heading “What to do if you spot a bird flying upside down.” He scanned the page until he came across this paragraph.
“If the local birds are flying irregularly, you may be witnessing what is known as ‘The Andromeda Effect’. This is a rare occurrence of a distant grouping of comets that orbit Earth at light speed. The Andromeda Effect has only been detected once every 223 years, the last one in 1799 causing a Vatican of cardinals in Massachusetts to fly in spiral and swirl patterns over a farmer’s field. This mysterious phenomenon seems to cause wildlife to act in strange and bizarre ways, particularly flocks of birds and some flightless birds as well, including peacocks, chickens, and even penguins. The birds appear to be unharmed and the effect lasts only until the comets fly out of orbit. Many believe those who are so lucky to experience The Andromeda Effect will have good fortune for the rest of their lives. The next occurrences of this phenomenon will be in the years of 2022, 2245, 2468, and 2691.”
Vincent, now aware of his good fortune, grabbed his keys and jumped into his 1972 Chevrolet C/20 long-bed truck. He traveled down the dusty country road and made his way to the local gas station where he bought numerous lottery tickets.
Vincent, now with a net worth of $223 billion, still grows vegetables, donates to many charities, and lives in the same house with Arthur, who fully recovered from The Andromeda Effect minus his colorful feathers standing on his head like a mohawk.