It was a brisk and cold fall day in October. It was a Saturday morning and I had nothing to do that day. I awoke at 7 in the morning and lumbered around the house until noon, then I got a call.

As I look down at my phone I see the call screen come up. ‘My Love’ was the name on the screen and my heart fluttered. Xander was his name. The love of my young life. We have been together for a year and I never lost my feelings for him. Just hearing his name brought butterflies to my stomach. I answered the call and heard his voice.
“Hey beautiful, would you like to come with my family and I to the zoo today? The new aviary opened up so we’re gonna go check it out.”
Immediately I exclaimed “YES!” He chuckled and said they’d be at my house in about half an hour. I threw on my favorite outfit and waited by the door for their car to pull up.
When they arrived I bolted out the front door to greet Xander. He welcomed me with a hug and held the door open for me to get into the car. His mother, Crystal, and his father, Lucas, greeted me warmly. Behind them in a separate car followed Xander’s sister, Bethany, and her husband, Darek.
When we arrived, we all met at the directory. Bethany and Darek went off on their own while Xander and I followed his mother and father. We walked through all the different exhibits. I was giddy like a young child on christmas day when she sees all the presents under the tree.
I have such a profound love for animals and I loved to see all the animals from all over the world. We walked up to the giraffe exhibit and I ran up to the railing to try to see them upclose. Xander stood beside me and offered me his jacket. He pointed out the goosebumps on my arm. I was too excited to even notice how cold I was.
We made it through all the exhibits and now it was time for the main point of our visit today. The aviary stood at the back of the zoo. There was one door leading in and one door leading out. The hallway was only big enough for one person to go through at a time though. I was the last of the four of us to go through. Xander kissed me before he went in and said “I’ll see you on the other side.”
It was my turn to go through the aviary. As I stepped into the hallway the door slammed behind me with a thunderous thud. “Hmmmm...a bit ominous I thought to myself. It didn’t slam like that for anyone else, or at least not what I could tell.” I continued on admiring all the different species of birds on showcase here. I saw cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, toucans, finches, and some species I’ve never heard of before. All their songs merging into one was beautiful, well it was at first.
Soon my head started hurting as the noise got much much louder. It started to become unbearable! I felt like my ears were about to bleed! I see I’m almost out of the aviary so I powered through it. As I reached the exit door something seemed wrong. I tugged and tugged on the door. I pushed and pushed on the door. It was jammed! I covered my ears because the noise was too much! I turned around and noticed something strange. The noise stopped! Although, something wasn’t right. All the birds were staring at me. I felt every single little eye on my body. It’s like they were trying to burn holes through me with their eyes. Then, a little finch flew down and landed directly in front of me. Instead of it chirping or singing it’s beautiful song, it uttered out a horrible and bone chilling screech!
Suddenly, every bird in the aviary flocked toward me. I screamed in horror and pain as they scratched and pecked at every inch of my body. I ran to the exit door and pounded on it. I scratched and clawed and shouted for help. I was in agonizing pain and thought it was the end. Suddenly, over the crows and screeches of all the birds I heard the creaking of the door opening. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I needed this pain to end. I needed to live. I needed to see Xander again. I needed to escape!
The bright light of the outside shone so angelically bright. As soon as I made it to the door, I jumped and twitched. I was in a cold sweat and didn’t know where I was. I rubbed my eyes and got my bearings. I was in Xander’s room! I looked to my right and there slept the boy who had my heart. Karma, Xander’s dog, jumped onto the bed and licked my face. I hugged her and she reassured me that everything was okay.