The Investigation Of The Bang

He was fast asleep in his nest when the abrupt bang cut through the stillness of the forest. The evening was cold and damp. Squirrel had curled up in his safe place, high up above the ground where many a predator tend to forage after the sun went down. Alarmed by what awoke him, Squirrel felt suddenly unsettled, for he had never heard such a sound before.

He didn’t move. His heart pounded as he cycled through all the possibilities as to what the noise could be. Grim ideas crept into his mind and entertained his thoughts. After some moments of time passed, he concluded that the noise was quite dangerous.

He listened. The hush over the forest was unusual, even for this time of night. He stood taller and listened once more this time focusing deeper into the woods. Still, he heard little, only the slight rustle of the wind softly caressing the trees.

He scanned the forest floor and down each tree corridor available for him to view from his post. Subtle peeks of the moon shown through the tree brushes that slowly swayed back and forth with each small gust. He analyzed what he could make out in the dark of the ground, the trees and the space in between but he did not see anything unusual.

He sniffed the air. There was the smell of pitch, pine and dirt with slight hints of earthy decay, all which Squirrel was accustomed to, but there was also something more. He sniffed again. This was a new smell. Something unfamiliar. He compared the smell to a time when humans lit a fire nearby. The smoke rose but the scent, heavy and laden, had settled in trees.

He waited. After a great while, he concluded it was safe enough to investigate. He was not the bravest of souls. It was unusual for Squirrel to leave his nest before the sun was far up in the sky, but his nagging curiosity prompted him to muster what little courage he had. After all, he had not heard anything else in quite some time. Nevertheless, conversations about mortal insecurity ensued in his head as he made his way down the trunk of his safe place.

It took him not but a few minutes to find the human lying on the forest floor. The dawning sun that had just barely started poking its rays out into the vastness of the forest, washed over the body, creating a soft lit outline of its shape. The gentle glow met the silhouette of the hair and illuminated the human’s face. Sitting at the body’s base, Squirrel could make out two legs that were rotated out and unmoving.

Just as Squirrel started to move closer in a careful approach, there was a fleeting of black wings overhead, then a rustle in the tree above.

“Caw!” Crow announced his arrival. “What do we have here?” He inquired. He strained to look over the dimly lit scene, attempting to case it for treasures.

Squirrel scanned the sky and around in the trees to see if others were coming. “I think it’s a human,” he answered when he was sure it was safe.

“Well, I’m not blind, I can see that it’s a human. A man to be exact,” Crow said smugly. “Why is he not moving? Is he dead?” He glided down in a semi-circular motion landing swiftly to the ground opposite side of Squirrel.

From his new vantage point, he could clearly make out the leakage of liquid draining from the side of the man’s head. The forest floor welcomed its nourishment as the liquid absorbed into the soil.

“I’m not quite sure, but I smell funny things, off things,” Squirrel said as he began to move about the side of the man sniffing his clothing. He started to examine the body for clues using his nose as his tour guide.

“Well, that explains…” Crow began.

“Explains what?” Squirrel impatiently interrupted.

“The terrible bang noise. Did you not hear it?”

“Of course, I did! Dreadful that noise. I’ve never heard such a thing!” Squirrel made his way down the arm of the man. He could smell the strange smoke-like scent building as he closed in on the man’s hand.

“Something’s over here, something shiny,” announced Squirrel. The shiny thing lay heavy in its resting place, sandwiched between the ground and the anterior of the man’s hand.

Crow flew over to investigate. He loved shiny things. A hoarder of trinkets, he would use them to adorn his nest come spring. “Haven’t you seen one before?”

“No…What is it?” Squirrel asked.

“It makes the loud noise and whatever it points at dies. That’s why there’s a wound in the man.” educates Crow. “I’ve seen one before.” Crow ruffles his feathers proud that he hasn’t exactly led a sheltered life.

“Did you find anything else? Perhaps food somewhere on him?” Crow asks hopefully.

“Not yet, but I’ll keep looking.” Squirrel reassures.

“Maybe I should call my murder to come help.” Crow contemplates.

“No, please don’t!” Squirrel pleaded. Crows in numbers could be quite frightening to a small squirrel such as himself. He didn’t trust that the tide wouldn’t turn on him if there were more than just one. “If he does have food we would have to share.” Squirrel offered an enticing reason to not sound the alarm. Then a distraction. “Look over there. I see something else.”

The small black notebook lay in the opposite side of the shiny thing. Its pages outstretched, it rested, cupped in the relaxed palm of its owner. Lines graced the pages, white and smooth on one side but on the other, its pristineness interrupted by dark scribbles and shapes.

“What does it mean?” asked Squirrel hoping Crow, with his worldly experience, would have an answer.

“How should I know? I don’t read human.” replied Crow.

“I’m going try to see if I can find some food. I haven’t eaten for two days. If I don’t find something soon, I will have to eat the man or else join him,” agonized Crow. “He’s not my first choice. Although, I do have some family members who would consider him prime meat, if you know what I mean,” Crow chuckled out what sounded somewhere between clicking and cackling.

Squirrel shook his head. The thought of eating a human made his stomach turn.

Crow flew up to the nearest tree to have a final gander at the scene. Down the pathway from the man a bit, he spotted something in the brush. Squinting hard to focus in, he could barely make out faint bits of blue color peeking through the bushes and leaves. Trying to imagine what it possibly could be, he decided to glide down to get a closer look.

He pushed his head through the thick leaf wall that obstructed full view of the blue fabric. Hiding amongst the entanglement, a medium sized bag lay motionless and undisturbed. Crow’s eyes fixated on it. He cocked his head dreaming of all the possible snacks that the bag could contain.

Squirrel’s voice was calling just outside the wall, “What did you find?”

Crow, annoyed of the prospect of having to share his meal with Squirrel replied, “Probably nothing. Certainly not anything to eat.”

Squirrel sniffed the air. “It smells like human and something else. Oh, I do hope that’s not another human.”

Atop the bag was a zipper. It was very shiny, very shiny indeed. Crow gazed at it a short while, enamored with its beauty. He noticed that it was pulled down ever so slightly, leaving the bag just agape enough for Crow to fit his beak inside.

Moving his beak as far as the freedom of the hole would allow, he pushed and pecked and pushed some more until his beak reached something. Whatever was inside rustled a bit. Could it be one of those bags that contained the crunchy things he loved so much? Oh, if he could just get his beak on one of those tasty morsels!

He was determined.

Using his beak, he pushed at the zipper attempting to crowbar the bag open. The gap widened a bit, but not enough to get a full view of the bag’s contents. Crow grasped the zipper tab firmly in his beak, he pulled and he pulled. Nothing happened.

Gasping from his efforts, he grabbed the zipper to pull once again. He yanked, and he heaved flapping his wings about in a ferocious frenzy until zzziiiip and then pop! The tightly clenched teeth finally gave way and, in the end, releasing its shiny tab to its assaulter. The sheer momentum vaulted Crow into the bushes. When he recovered, he carefully placed his winning prize for safe keeping and approached the mouth of the blue bag.

“Oh dear! Is everything okay?” Squirrel inquired, still outside the brush.

Ignoring Squirrel, Crow began to rifle through the bag’s contents.

Tired of waiting for an answer and feeling quite left out, Squirrel made his way through the thick. He found Crow in the process of extracting something from the bag’s opening. Reminiscent of a leaf although different in form, it was similar in color and possessed distinct odors of human and tree.

“What is it?” asked Squirrel

“I don’t have any idea.” Crow replied, embarrassed at his ignorance. Disappointed at not finding any snacks, he decided that his time would be better spent elsewhere. He gathered his lovely in his beak and without so much as a goodbye, exited the way he came.

Squirrel felt the stacks of human leaves in the bag. He carefully studied the one that lay exterior the bag. Testing its durability, he twisted and turned it in every direction. He rubbed it against his cheeks feeling its smoothness against his fur.

When he finished with a full examination, he concluded that the human leaves would be a nice insulator for his nest. The nights were growing colder and with the arrival of winter, they would add some warmth to his safe place. After all, there certainly were enough of them. He was delighted just thinking about how extraordinary his nest would soon become.

Off in the distance, he could hear sounds of voices and then footsteps swiftly approaching. Squirrel froze. The voices and footsteps grew louder and louder until they were almost upon him.

He hastily removed as many leaves from the bag that he could safely transport. His jaws clenched firm and secure onto his precious fortune. With great fortitude, he tunneled his way through the brush wall and scurried down the pathway. Squirrel narrowly missed the humans that were just arriving at the scene.

There was a low chatter from the humans that could be heard throughout the forest long after the sun went down. The night was cold and damp but Squirrel, with the help of four new bedding pieces, fell fast asleep cozy in his safe place.

The next day, the news reported that the police had found the body of the man who was involved in an armed robbery of the local bank. A suicide note was discovered with the body. The man was sent to the coroner’s and was pending further investigation. Detectives discovered nineteen thousand and six hundred of the twenty thousand dollars stolen in the heist, hidden some feet away. The remaining four hundred was not found.

Squirrel rose that morning feeling well rested and truly fortunate to have a bed that afforded such a comfort. He wondered if the day would present yet another opportunity. He contemplated how he would muster up his courage once again.