MidReal Story
Feathered Fury: A Wild Goose Chase
Scenario: Canada geese go on a killing spree.
Create my version of this story
I’ll never forget the day I found Jack Reynolds’ body lying on the shore of Willow Lake.
I remember the way his dark hair was splayed out across the sand and how his eyes appeared to be staring sightlessly up at the sky.
His face was so deathly still, and his skin was so pale, that I thought for sure I’d arrived too late.
But then, as I knelt next to him and took his cold hand in mine, a weak pulse fluttered beneath my trembling fingers.
I breathed a sigh of relief and pressed my free hand to my chest, willing my frantic heart to slow down.
It had been awhile since I’d had an assignment that required me to identify a body.
But it was something I’d done many times over the years in my line of work.
When I’d seen Jack’s name on the emergency call list and received the address of his location, I couldn’t believe my luck.
It was a stroke of serendipity, or maybe fate, that brought us together once again.
This time, though, I hoped I wouldn’t be too late.
I needed Jack to come back to life for me.
The town of Willow Lake is nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, just off I-70 in Colorado.
It’s a quiet little community with about five hundred residents, give or take, depending on the time of year.
In addition to an elementary school, a few small businesses, and a couple of churches, the town boasts a volunteer fire department and police force.
The nearest hospital is located about twenty miles away in Evergreen.
I’ve lived in Willow Lake for about five years now.
I’m a wildlife biologist by trade, and one of my assignments is keeping track of the various species living in the area.
One of the many reasons I love this small town is because it’s surrounded by such a diverse habitat.
There are numerous animals and birds that call Willow Lake their home, and it’s my job to observe and track them as they go about their daily lives.
Which is why I found myself entangled in the mystery currently plaguing our town.
Jack Reynolds is a park ranger, and we’ve been colleagues for years.
We’ve also been lovers.
Jack and I have shared numerous assignments over the years, and we’ve spent countless hours hiking and camping together in the backcountry of the Rocky Mountains.
Our work has allowed me to get to know Jack up close and personal, both inside and out, on a physical and emotional level, as well as on a mental level, too.
We’ve shared many intimate moments during our time together, both on and off the job.
But Jack Reynolds is not the only man who has captured my interest during my time in Willow Lake.
I’d also like to introduce you to Sarah Patel, the newest member of our little trio, who has recently come to Willow Lake to work as a journalist for the local newspaper.
Sarah has long dark hair and big brown eyes, and she is naturally curious about everything.
She is also ambitious and has no problem going after what she wants.
I like her and consider her to be my friend, although I suspect there may be more between the two of us than meets the eye.
I sat cross-legged on the forest floor, my back pressed against a tree trunk, while I fiddled with my camera equipment, double-checking to make sure it was in working order.
Jack squatted down next to me, his long legs bent at the knee, his large frame towering over me as he peered intently at my camera.
He rested a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently.
You ready?” he asked.
I nodded, swallowing hard.
I was nervous, but I’d been nervous every day for the last two weeks.
This was our routine now.
We’d hike into the woods, check our camera traps, and pray that we’d finally caught a glimpse of whatever it was that had been killing animals in Willow Lake.
So far, no such luck.
After a moment of silence, Jack stood up and turned his large, muscular frame toward me.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” he said, running a hand through his dark hair in frustration.
“I can’t believe we still haven’t found anything.”
I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe we just need to be patient,” I suggested.
He grunted and shook his head.
“We’ve been patient,” he said, dropping down on the ground next to me with a heavy sigh.
I flipped on my camera and began to scroll through the images on the LCD screen, hoping against hope that this would be the day we finally saw the killer in action.
As soon as I saw the first picture, though, I stopped, my heart sinking in my chest.
“Not again,” I muttered to myself as I stared at the image on the screen.
I glanced up at Jack, who was watching me with a concerned look on his face.
“What is it?”
he asked as he leaned over my shoulder to get a better look.
I pointed to the screen and sighed heavily before answering him.
“It’s just another group of Canada geese.”
Jack was quiet for a moment as he studied the image on the screen, his brow furrowed in concentration.
Finally, he shook his head and let out a deep breath.
“Well, that’s something, I guess,” he said with a shrug.
“At least it’s not another dead animal.”
I sighed and nodded in agreement before turning off my camera and packing it away in my bag.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I asked as we prepared to leave the forest and make our way back to the park ranger station.
“You seem kind of down.”
“I’m fine,” he replied with a shrug.
“I just wish we had something to show for all of this hard work.”
I nodded in agreement as I followed him down the path, watching as he ducked under low-hanging branches and stepped carefully over large tree roots.
As we walked, I couldn’t help but think about how I’d ended up in Willow Lake in the first place and what had brought me here in the first place.
After graduating from college with a degree in biology, I’d spent several years working for a local wildlife rescue organization in my hometown near Boulder, Colorado.
I’d always loved the outdoors and had spent much of my childhood hiking and camping with my parents and my older brother, who shared my passion for nature and animals.
I became enraged
when I read the news about the recent deaths in Willow Lake, which had started only a few weeks before I moved to the town.
The reports had been vague, but it was clear that the authorities were struggling to find answers and that the residents were scared and on edge.
Initially, they’d blamed the killings on a rogue mountain lion or some other kind of predator that was common in the area.
But as more bodies had turned up and the police had failed to catch the killer, fear and paranoia had taken hold of the town, and some residents had started to speculate that there might be something more sinister at play.
I sighed heavily as I thought about the deaths and how they had thrown the small town into chaos.
Although I hadn’t lived in Willow Lake for very long, I had come to love the people here, and it broke my heart to see them living in fear.
We reached the edge of the forest, and I stepped out into the bright afternoon sun and blinked as the light temporarily blinded me.
I shaded my eyes with my hand as I looked around, taking in the spectacular view of Willow Lake with its crystal-clear waters and
surrounded by dense forest.
I’d seen the lake many times before, but it never failed to take my breath away, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to live and work in such an amazing place.
Jack cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to him, and I followed his gaze to the small rowboat that was tied up at the edge of the lake.
We were supposed to take the boat out on the water this afternoon and check the motion-sensor cameras that we had set up on the opposite side of the lake several days ago.
We’d hoped that the cameras would be able to capture images of the predator in action and help us figure out what was killing all of the animals in the area.
But so far, they hadn’t caught anything useful, and we were starting to run out of ideas.
As I followed Jack down to the boat, I couldn’t help but notice every move he made; his long legs and broad shoulders moved with the easy grace of a natural athlete or someone who was very confident in their surroundings.
I’d always thought he was attractive, with his short dark hair and deep brown eyes, not to mention his tall and muscular build.
But I’d never really noticed how much I liked watching him move until that moment, and I felt a familiar heat rise in my cheeks as I thought about how he’d been the star athlete at my high school, while I’d been more comfortable with books than people.
“So do you think we’ll finally catch something on these cameras this afternoon?”
I asked as I climbed into the boat and sat down on the wooden bench next to him.
“I don’t know,” he replied with a shrug as he untied the rope from the dock and started rowing us out into the water.
“It’s worth a shot, I guess.”
“Do you think it’s possible that there might be more than one predator out there?”
I asked as I watched him rowing us across the lake.
At first, I’d assumed that there had been only one animal responsible for all of the deaths in Willow Lake, but now I wasn’t so sure, especially since we hadn’t caught anything on film yet.
I shivered at the thought of having more than one predator on our hands, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about all of this.
“What if it’s something else?”
I asked as I turned to look at Jack, who was staring at me with an arched brow.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know,” I replied with a shrug.
“But it just seems strange to me that we haven’t caught anything on these cameras yet, even though we’ve been checking them every day for almost a week now.
I mean, don’t you think we should have seen something by now?”
“I know what you mean,” he replied with a thoughtful expression.
“But I guess we just have to keep checking them and hope for the best.”
I nodded in agreement and then fell silent as we continued rowing across the lake.
The tension between us was still there, and I could tell by his expression that Jack was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened between us.
Part of me wanted to find out how he really felt about me so that I could finally put this whole thing behind me.
But another part of me was afraid that things would never be the same between us if I did, and I didn’t want to risk losing his friendship.
So instead, I pushed my feelings aside and focused on the task at hand.
When we reached the opposite shore of the lake, I helped Jack pull the boat up onto dry land, and then we set off into the forest to check our motion-sensor cameras for any new images.
A few minutes later, our work was done, and I followed Jack back to our boat in silence.
I wasn’t really sure what else to say to him, and I hoped that he would understand why I had to keep my distance from him for now.
When we reached the boat, I turned to face him, and he met my gaze with an unreadable expression.
“I guess I’ll see you later, then,” I said softly as I took a step back from him.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied as he climbed into the boat and picked up an oar.
I nodded in response and then turned away from him and started walking back toward my cabin before I could change my mind.
I made my way back to my cabin in silence, and I shivered slightly as I felt Jack’s gaze on me.
The air was starting to get cooler now that summer was coming to an end, and I wished that I had brought a sweater with me to help keep me warm.
As I walked, I thought about how strange it was to be living in such a beautiful place while so much death and destruction was happening around us.
But even though Willow Lake was small, it was still home to a lot of different kinds of wildlife, and my job was to study them.
As I made my way back to my cabin, I tried to come up with a new plan of action to help us figure out what was killing all of the animals in the area.
I knew that I was just a wildlife biologist and not a detective, but that didn’t mean that I was willing to sit back and wait for someone else to solve this mystery for us.
As I wracked my brain for ideas, I remembered something that one of my colleagues had mentioned a few months ago, when I’d told her about the motion-sensor cameras that we were planning to use on our research trip to Willow Lake.
She’d suggested that I set up some additional cameras near water sources, since most animals needed to drink water at least once a day and might be more likely to visit those locations than the ones we had set up near our campsite.
Smiling as I remembered her advice, I quickly changed course and headed toward the lake so that I could check on the camera that I’d set up on the hiking trail there earlier today.
The sun was starting to sink lower in the sky as I finally made it back to Willow Lake, and I couldn’t help but pause for a moment to admire it before I continued on my way.
The water was so clear that you could easily see all the way down to the bottom, and it was such a bright shade of blue that it almost seemed like it was glowing from within.
And all around it was a ring of thick forest that was so green, it looked almost like something out of a fairytale.
Flashing a smile at the sight of the lake, I continued making my way down the trail until the only thing I could hear was the sound of birds chirping and leaves rustling as they were blown around by the wind.
But just as I was getting close to where I had set up the camera earlier today, I heard a loud honking call that echoed through the forest and quickly broke through the silence.
Wondering what was making that noise, I quickly made my way over to the lake so that I could see what was going on.
And as soon as I did, I spotted a family of Canada geese gliding across the water, their long necks held high as they honked loudly to each other.
A bittersweet smile crossed my face as I watched them, and for a moment, all of my other worries seemed to disappear.
I had always loved Canada geese, and whenever I saw them, it reminded me of my dad.
He’d been the one who had first introduced me to the wonders of nature, and he’d taught me how to appreciate even the smallest things in the world around us.
And after he’d died, I’d known that I had to find a way to honor his memory, no matter what it took.
That was why I had become a wildlife biologist, and why I had dedicated my life to studying the animals he had loved so much.
The Canada geese were probably my favorite of all the animals we studied, since they were so beautiful and so resilient.
The adult geese seemed to be having a good time as they played with their ducklings in the water, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute the little birds were as they swam around their parents and honked at each other.
But just as I was about to turn away and go check on my camera, something strange happened.
Without any warning at all, two of the adult geese suddenly started attacking each other with their wings and beaks, and their honks of aggression quickly filled the air.
The other geese quickly moved out of their way as they watched in shock and horror, but some of the young ducklings weren’t so lucky.
A few of them were trampled underfoot as they tried to get away from their fighting parents, while others were brutally attacked by one of the adult birds after it had knocked its opponent to the ground.
As I watched in shock and horror, I realized that I had never seen anything like this happen before.
Canada geese were usually very peaceful and loving animals, and they almost never fought with each other over anything.
So why were these ones acting so strangely?
