Upon hearing the blood-curdling scream, we all jumped out of our seats and ran for the staircase. I reached it first and took the stairs two at a time. My brief knock on the closed door where Liz was staying wouldn’t have been sufficient in any other circumstance, but this unique situation called for immediate ...

My head shook in disbelief at the sight of the flamingo; all the while, my brain created plausible scenarios that overtook any rational thought I had before. “No, no, this can’t be real.” While backing away from the pink bird, I whispered, “Miss Martha, Louis, this is a joke, right? This flamingo is an animatronic, ...

A crowd of hopeful Arizona State University students gathered around the bulletin board outside Dr. Isis Nassar’s lecture hall. She posted the semester’s final scores. There was a cluster of students who anxiously waited to scan for their grades. Hopefuls who wanted their scores to be high enough to get selected for the internship slots. ...

“Are these feathers from the flamingo you’re keeping?” I gave a stern look to Miss Martha and Louis while my fingers tightly gripped the pink feathers. My mind attempted to remain calm, but anger rose inside my body. “Please, tell me now.” My voice said through almost gritted teeth, which took myself aback. This anger ...

We all jumped the minute we heard the honk, and our coffee spilled over the floor and sofa. I noticed that Miss Martha and Louis didn’t budge an inch and looked annoyed towards the kitchen door. “What the he…eck, was that?” I exclaimed. In a wise journalist maneuver, I caught myself about to say the ...

“These were the most wonderful birds I had ever seen,” Miss Martha explained while she gave us coffee. “I had once thought of them as eccentric lawn ornaments of middle-aged women, ironic to say after you looked at my front lawn, but now they were in front of me. They waded in the pool and ...

All twelve of us were seated by 9:00 p.m., and Roxanne explained what happens once a soul was summoned. Except for a few candles spread throughout the dining area, the room was dark. The tapestry window coverings were drawn closed against any reflection from the glass. At the center of the round table, Roxanne used ...

As expected, Miss Martha’s living room had pink décor, though it was subtler than I had thought. The cream-colored walls were lined with photos and paintings of birds. They ranged from common backyard birds and city dwellers like pigeons and cardinals, to exotic species such as toucans, macaw parrots, and flamingos. Some of those photos ...

I continued to date Louis every weekend for over three months; we had dates in restaurants, parks, beaches, movie theaters, etc. Louis grew closer to me; he even bought a beautiful pink necklace for our twentieth date. I enjoyed our time together, but the reminder of Miss Billings’ assignment had kept me on edge. I ...

Please understand, I had desperate ambitions to be a journalist by then. It seemed like a worthy sacrifice. Most of the working staff were already cutthroats, so it looked natural from my fatigued view. Now Mackenzie Billings, though unscrupulous, still had the foresight to ensure every dubious interview and story had some truth. I manipulated ...