A Finch Breakfast
Erik Peters
__________
The air was already sweaty with summer heat. Early morning rays beat fiercely on the curtains. The living room was stifling, but if I could get a through-draft, it might be bearable by evening.
I shuffled to the sliding door, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. Bombur padded alongside. He pawed the matt and whimpered as I reached for the curtain hem.
Cheep-cheep-ap-cheep!
I hesitated. A house finch must have been at the feeder on the other side of the veil, inches from my hand. His wine-stained feathers and glittering eyes flashed into my mind.
Cheep-cheep-ap-cheep!
Click.
His mate landed. Females are timid and the slightest rustle would have sent them careering away.
“Bombur, shhhh.”
I lowered my hand. The sounds of a finch-breakfast sweetened the sweaty air.
__________
Erik Peters is a father and avid mediaevalist from Canada. Erik’s writing has been published in numerous magazines including Coffin Bell, Superlative Lit, Prospectus, Takahe Magazine, and The Dead Mule School. Read all Erik’s publications at www.erikpeters.ca or @erikpeterswrites.
__________
To learn more about submitting your work to Boudin or applying to McNeese State University’s Creative Writing MFA program, please visit Submissions for details.
Posted in Fall Feasts: Nov' 24 and tagged in #boudin, #fiction, #flashfiction, Fiction