The sudden sight of the flamingo caused me to hyperventilate, and I lost consciousness. When I came to, I was lying on the living room sofa. As I tried to get my bearings, the flamingo appeared and inspected my shoes, which someone had removed. Louis sat in a nearby armchair, his face buried in his ...

“Several weeks ago,” Miss Martha began, “The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s Ornithology Department contacted me to investigate a suspicious black-market bidding in Baja that sold illegal wild birds from South America and abroad. Wealthy people attended the auctions and bought the birds to keep as pets or accessories without considering the animals ...

After Miss Martha finished her story, I stared at her in disbelief, unable to think of anything to say. Louis put his hand on mine and rubbed it. He looked at me and said, “I realize this may be overwhelming for you, Jessica, but please trust us when we say that it’s all true.” After ...

The weekend flew by, and before I knew it, Monday had arrived. In spite of the break, I was not well rested. Despite the strong emotions I had for Louis and my sympathy for the flamingoes, Miss Billings still had a significant presence in my life. Our upcoming meeting couldn’t be put off much longer. ...

“W-What is this?” I stuttered. “Louis is not the man he appears to be, I’m afraid.” Miss Billings sighed. “He’s done this before with other coworkers.” She tucked the photo in her pocket and stood beside me. I sat dumbfounded by what Miss Billings said, but my mind urged me to keep believing in Louis. ...

When I left the office, I spent the day driving and shopping around my Los Angeles neighborhood to forget everything Miss Billings told me. I couldn’t shake the mental picture of Louis with that other woman, no matter how hard I tried. When it hit seven o’clock it became unbearable. To satisfy my curiosity, I ...

After crying for an hour, I calmed down to pay the technicians and drove home. My heart still ached the rest of the afternoon and into the night, and only a pint of chocolate ice cream comforted me until I fell asleep. It wasn’t a restful sleep. I found myself in a nightmare of a ...

Later that day, I returned to the newspaper’s office; we agreed to meet in person to discuss my story. The other employees had the rest of the week off, and despite how suspicious it seemed, they jumped at the chance to relax. I sat at the conference room desk and waited for Miss Billings. All ...

Two days passed as I remained at home, eagerly anticipating the publication of the article at the week’s end. In my free time, I threw Louis’ gifts away and watched television. On Thursday, to my surprise, Louis called. The urge to confront him about the incident at the nail salon and Bouncing Boba grew. With ...

On Friday morning, the story about the flamingos finally broke in L.A. County. Miss Martha’s house was shown on television swarmed with reporters, wildlife control, police officers, and animal rights protestors. Trained handlers led the flamingoes to the Los Angeles Zoo. Press and protestors called Miss Martha terrible names like abuser, crazy flamingo lady, etc. ...