Owl & Munchkin

The figurines came alive. In a flash, they snuffed out the light of the man and the woman. Then the mermaids, arrogant in their deed and their bellies full of the newly feasted souls, slithered to their place on the mantle. They returned to their glamorous ceramic state, gleeful in the terror they had caused before snatching the life forces of the feeble humans.

The barn owl had been quietly watching in horror. Silent tears ran down his fluffy cheeks as he watched the kind humans fade away. The mermaids. He’d never seen them move before. In their solid state, they are goddesses, with kind eyes and warm features. But when they came alive, their true form showed. Razor sharp tentacles for hands, horned fins atop their heads, their tails split to reveal daggered legs and feet that carried them swiftly across the room. The mermaids were vicious in their hunt; the humans never stood a chance. They had barely awoken when the swift swipes of hands and feet sent them into eternal sleep. He could nothing but watch from the outside porch; his wing had been broken earlier that week.

The humans found him on the property, stuck in chains. He had flown into them unwittingly, distracted, and hungry. In his fear and confusion, his wing twisted and broke. The pain was excruciating. The humans heard the rustling of the chains and came to inspect the ruckus. They were persistent in helping, though he tried to dissuade them with snips and pecks. The woman soothingly cooed and petted the owl while the man gently pulled on his body until he was free of his entrapment. He laid still in the man’s hands, weighing the option of attempting to escape while injured. While he pondered, the man and woman took him to their house and bandaged him up. How curious, that though he had attacked them, they still cared for him.

Here he stood, silent, unable to do anything for the humans who had loved him deeply for such a short time. The mermaids, in their haste, had not sensed his nor the dog’s presence. But she had come too late and could only look in horror at the lifeless humans she had called family. She had missed the terrible spectacle of their passing. They called her Munchkin, a young yet large German shepherd lab mix. She wanted to go to them and lick their faces. She wanted to bark and cry for help. The barn owl, concerned for her safety and fearful of the vicious mermaids, dissuaded her, and led her away to the safety of the barn where he had first met the man and woman. He let her grieve for some time, before telling her what he had seen.

Munchkin was not as surprised as he had thought she’d be. “I had sensed them moving in their ceramic shells when Woman brought them home. I knew they were bad, but I didn’t know how to tell the humans. I tried to destroy them, but I was only able to break two before the woman stopped me. Then she put them on that mantle, where I couldn’t reach them. That night, while I was in my cage, the others came down the mantle and devoured the fading souls of the broken mermaids. I don’t think there is any loyalty amongst them. I started to bark at them, then I noticed they were just eating the others. But I still didn’t like them. So, I barked at them all the time.”

“I thought you were just being annoying. What does barking at them in the ceramic state do?”

“It expresses my displeasure. They are in the house and I don’t want them there.”

“So, nothing. It does nothing.”

“You didn’t even know they were in there.”

“My wing is broken. It messes with the rest of my senses. I knew there was something in the house, I just didn’t know what. So, there were five before. The remaining three ate the others, then they took Man and Woman. We have to assume they will take you at some point.”

“We need to tell the neighbors, so that someone knows something happened to them.”

“Okay. We need to go the back way through the woods. If we take the street, the mermaids will see us leaving.”

“Okay, hold on to my collar.”

They dashed through the trees at what felt to be a breakneck speed. “How is she so fast on the ground?” the owl thought. As soon as she could see the house, Munchkin began barking ferociously. The neighbors were a pair of twin sisters. They recognized her and, though they found it odd that she and the owl were without their guardians, they scooped them into the pickup and drove over to the scene.

“Oh, shit. What happened here?” a twin asked.

“Fuck if I know. Call the police,” the other answered.

While the other is on the phone, one twin saw the mermaid figurines. She was instantly enamored with them. She pocketed all three. Munchkin went crazy, barking loudly and tugging at the twin’s jacket. Owl tried to bite and scratch her. A mermaid fell out of her pocket and broke. The twin shoved Munchkin and the owl into the dog cage. In the commotion, the last two mermaids hopped out of the pockets to gobble the soul of the fallen mermaid.

The other twin whipped around, “What’s going on? What was that?”.

“The dog knocked into me and I dropped this figurine.”

“Are you stealing those dumb mermaids?!”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Okay, whatever, I guess.”

The twin saw the other mermaids, resolidified, beside the pieces of the broken statue. “These seem okay. I’ll put these pieces in the trash before the cops get here.” She finished just as sirens sounded in the distance. The twins told the part of the story they knew, leaving out the thievery. They made their way to back home. The police stayed, beginning their investigation.

Munchkin and owl were quiet in their fear. “What should we do?” Munchkin asked. “Those mermaids are going to hurt those women.” The owl shrugged in silence. “We should break out and save them.” The owl, still silent, looked at her incredulously. Munchkin restated her position with more authority, “We are breaking out to save them.”

The owl seemed to ponder a thought, then let it go in resignation. “Fine. The day can’t get any worse, I guess.” He was hilariously, woefully incorrect.