Trembling With Fear 02/16/2020

Fair Warning by David A. Summers

Little Robbie didn’t like staying with Granny way out in the country, and he really didn’t like Granny telling him what to do, like she did this morning. 

All he wanted was to get close to the baby birds that were in a nest under the bushes beside the house. He could hear them making little cheeping sounds, and he just wanted to look at them. He’d seen pictures of baby birds with their mouths open so wide they looked almost like flowers, all orange and yellow on the inside, but now he wanted to see for himself. 

He hadn’t decided what he would do after he saw them. He would think of something fun, but first he had to look at them with their little beaks open wide. So he got down and crawled up to the bush, and then started to push the leaves aside.

That’s when Granny came up behind him and said to stay away from the nest because the mommy bird wouldn’t feed her little babies while Robbie was there. “If she doesn’t feed them, they’ll starve, so we have to leave them alone,” she said.  Then she patted him on the head, and told him he was such a handsome little boy, with his black shiny hair and those beautiful eyes to match. “But now go play somewhere else,” she said.

Robbie didn’t say anything, but he told Granny with his eyes that he didn’t like being bossed around. He especially didn’t liked being bossed by someone old like Granny, all wrinkled and smelly.

He wished Mommy would come back from her trip and take him home. Robbie had wanted to go on the trip too, but Mommy said the trip was just for grownups, which meant she was going with Roger. Robbie didn’t like Roger, and wished he’d go away so it would just be Robbie and Mommy, like it has been ever since Daddy died. He hadn’t liked Daddy either. He’d been really bossy.

***

Later that day, while Robbie was sitting on the porch swing looking at an old comic book, he saw Granny go over to the bushes and look down, like she was making sure the baby birds were okay. Then he saw Granny put her hands over her mouth and start saying, “oh no, oh no, oh dear God, no.”  

When she did that, Robbie knew Granny had seen the baby birds all stomped into a gooey mess, with their little feathers and beaks mashed up together. Robbie wanted to smile, but he thought it would be more fun to act like he didn’t know why Granny was so upset. He’d thought about cleaning off the bottom of his sneakers so there wouldn’t be any feathers stuck to them, but then decided not to.

Robbie thought Granny would start yelling at him, and maybe even grab him and start shaking him. Thinking about this made him tremble with excitement, and he hoped Granny would do it. Instead, Granny stopped saying anything and just stood there, looking out toward the pasture where her old horse was wandering around, munching on grass.

After a while, Granny turned around and walked up on the porch where Robbie was sitting, and stood in front of him. She looked down at his sneakers, then started shaking her head, real slow. 

Robbie didn’t have to wonder what to say, because he knew the words would come out just right if he let them. “What’s wrong, Granny?” 

He could tell she heard him, but she kept shaking her head.  Finally she said, “I just don’t understand.” Then she went inside. Now Robbie could smile.

A few minutes later, Granny came out holding a camera, so Robbie quit smiling  and just watched her. Granny acted calm, but Robbie knew she was still upset, because she pointed a finger at him and said, “When your mother comes to pick you up, I’m going to tell her what you did. I’m going to show her pictures, too.” Then she walked over to the bushes and started taking pictures.

When Granny finished, she came back to the porch where Robbie was still sitting and said, “You’re only eight, but you should know better. What you did is wrong. Don’t ever do it again.” 

Robbie looked at Granny and told her with his eyes that he was really angry now, even angrier than when she’d told him to leave the baby birds alone. Then he got up and started walking around the outside of the house, like he was bored sitting on the porch and just wanted to walk around and see everything, like Granny’s horse and all her chickens.  

Once he knew Granny was back inside watching TV, he was able to look at the loose board at the top of the back steps. He wondered what would happen if the board came loose all the way. He knew Granny walked down the back steps when she went out to feed her horse and the chickens the first thing in the morning, even before it was completely light outside. 

***

He was really glad to see Mommy when she came driving up. She ran to him crying, and hugged him real tight. She said she’d flown back the moment she heard what happened. She also said “what a big boy” Robbie had been when he called 911 and told them Granny had fallen down some steps and wasn’t breathing anymore. He was “so brave,” she said. 

Robbie liked it when Mommy hugged him and said nice things about him, but he was careful not to smile. He wished he could make some tears, but he still didn’t know how. 

After Mommy finished hugging him, Roger came over and tried to hug him too. Robbie didn’t like Roger touching him or even being there, so he told him with his eyes to stay away. If he didn’t, he’d be sorry. Just like Granny was sorry now.  Like Daddy, too.