/lit/ - Literature

“If, in the end, it is like what it was in the beginning, would there have been any point at all? Would we look back and say, we’ve come full circle? Or say, things have finally come to a close?”

“I don’t know, Dan.” said a man lighting a cigarette. He flicked the match back and forth to extinguish it, then brushed his fingers on his grey jumpsuit. The name Ryan was displayed in cursive on a sewn white name tag. “What do you think?”

Dan’s eyes unfocused. He stood like this for a while. “I don’t think we’ll know until we get there.” he said.

“Great,” said Ryan. He allowed himself to think for the briefest moment what it might feel like to beat Dan to death. Returning his focus to the matter at hand, he looked down at the dead ostrich at his feet.

“I don’t like the way their eyes look,” he confessed. The ostrich’s neck was twisted in a loop, its black eyes staring up at Ryan. It had taken two hands each from both Ryan and Dan to strangle the bird. Ryan gently nudged the bird’s chest with his toe.

“These eyes don’t look anymore, Ryan.” said Dan.

Ryan wedged his toe under the bird and attempted to roll it over. The bird gave little under his attempt, and rolled back to its previous position. Ryan grabbed the bird by the neck with two hands and began to drag it to the van they had parked nearby. After a few feet of grunting and sliding, Dan grabbed the ostrich by the leg, and the two men pulled the bird the rest of the way to the van. They slid open the side panel.

“How are we going to get this in here?” asked Dan.

Ryan threw his cigarette to the ground, and looked at the truck. He paused for a moment. “Grab the legs,” he said, “Go stand over there.”

“Everything has a price, Ryan.” said Dan.

Ryan grabbed the bird by the neck, and stepped back so that the body was suspended a few inches off the ground. “On three,” he said. He began to rock the body back and forth. “One, two, three.”

The men released the bird. The body flew clear into the passenger area of the van, while the legs and head bounced off the sides of the van and folded in on each other in a tangle. Dan tucked the limbs and head into the van and slid the door closed.

“What did you say?” said Ryan.

“I didn’t say anything.” said Dan.

The men entered the van, with Ryan in the driver’s seat. He turned the key in the ignition. The engine rolled for a few seconds, then turned on. He turned the van around, and took the road he and Dan had used to enter the enclosure.

After a few moments of driving, a pair of slender legs appeared in the roadway. Ryan slammed on the brakes. An ostrich stood in the middle of the road, blocking their exit.