Three birds on a wire.
The sidewalk was long and empty, stretching forward into the concrete jungle of New York City. Scatterings of spider web cracks wove in and out in irregular patches where the wear of thousands of feet had finally worked down the harsh material to the point of yielding. Weeds poked up from between those tiny cracks; a blade of grass here, a white tufted dandelion there. Kari studied its patterns, completely oblivious to the shouts thrown back and forth right beside her. Her day- no, not just this day, this year- wasn’t going to best. And by that, she meant that it was utterly catalytic.

Kari was a small blackbird, her raven hair so long it brushed her hips every time she moved. Her face was small and pointed, giving her the perpetual look of being younger than she actually was at 16 years. Her dark eyes and olive skin only added to the effect of her being some sort of quietly observing bird. And just like the magpie, she was easily distracted by any object that could snatch her attention. At that moment, the ground was particularly fascinating; especially if it meant ignoring her quarreling friends.

A particularly loud, grating shout jerked the girl out of her reverie. Twitching, she tuned back into the ‘conversation’.

“Are you serious? I didn’t do anything; you’re just…jumping to conclusions! Again! I swear, if I had a penny for every time you let your overinflated ego make you act like a moron, I’d be rich.”

“And if I had a penny for every time you used the same comebacks, then I’d be driving a Ferrari right now, not walking into downtown Manhattan. Why do you even hang out with us? You don’t even like me, and I have the pleasure to say that the feeling is mutual!”

Sighing, Kari hunched over so that her hair fell over her eyes, obscuring her view of her friends. She knew that she was the only reason the two of them ever hung out. A connecting chain, that was surprisingly stable given her circumstances. Sometimes they actually liked each other, Natalie and Jenna. They got along a good part of the time, but every now and then? They went at each other like wild animals. Vultures.

Even though she couldn’t see either of them, she could picture the scene that had replayed a hundred times right in front of her with unfortunate clarity. Jenna, her wild blue eyes and multicolored hair flying as she whipped around the face Natalie, was stopped on her right. She had always looked like a peacock to Kari, with her brightly colored shirts, shoes, and everything in between. Even her scarf was patterned today- the amount of color on her was almost blinding sometimes.

And then there was Natalie, a robin. Small and compact with curly red hair that spun out in every direction, frightening off straighteners for miles on end. Although she was nothing special to look at, she had always stuck out in the same way that Jenna did. The combination of startlingly, electrically green eyes, dark eyeliner and red hair just stood out against a crowd of brown hair and dark eyes. Kari was one to blend in- Natalie was one to wave her feathers and strut. Still, with her tongue of acid, she was the one who caused most of their fights. Jenna was right, she did have an overinflated ego. But for that matter, so did she. Claiming that either Jenna or Natalie started all their fights would be lying. As her parents were prone to saying, it takes two to tango.

Frowning deeply, the Kari pushed her two friends apart bodily, acting oddly out of character. Normally she just sat these things out, waited for them to make up and hug. Have a sleepover or something; but she was sick of their bickering. Who cared? Who. Freaking. Cared?

“Come on, what are you guys even fighting about?” She asked, slender eyebrows tilted upwards questioningly. Greeted by silence and a confused shrug, she continued. “Exactly. Why…why don’t we just cut it out? Just for today, alright?” Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought them down and kept her gaze stubbornly forward.

Jenna averted her gaze, turning away from Natalie with her arms crossed across her chest. With a determined flip of her hair, the high schooler did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at her favorite frenemy. “No. Way. I will totally never forgive her.” Shooting a meaningful glare at the other girl, the parakeet-like teenager returned to her previous impertinent pose. She looked like a pouting 4 year old that hadn't gotten her way, and Kari…she was just so sick of it. Something about it all struck a chord in her. That chord snapped.
What was the point of all of this? She had had one of the worst days she had yet to have, and probably ever would. Max- now her ex- had broken up with her. In the middle of the school’s first showing of Romeo and Juliet. He had been Romeo- she, Juliet, of course. Fate has a funny way of working out like that. She had run off sometime after the first act, when he had texted her in the dressing room that they ‘needed to talk.’
Max had been a hawk; confident, funny, and now, cruel. He collected and hoarded hearts like a hawk protects his nest. This little blackbird had become a meal to that bird of prey. She had known it would happen for such a long time now that it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but the rabbit that’s captured by a circling eagle never realizes what’s going on until it’s being lifted up off the ground.
“Jenna, can I talk to you for a moment?” Her voice was disconnected and hollow, but Jenna didn’t notice. Of course she didn’t. She never noticed anything. After all, Kari was prone to zoning out during conversations, and if she worried every time that happened Jenna would have wrinkles by now. Natalie furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously, but let the relief show on her face when Kari twisted her lips into a tight smile. “We’ll catch up, Natalie. Gimme a few, Okay?”
Grinning, Natalie nodded and started at a fast pace down the cracked sidewalk, towards the city. Kari counted to 95, waiting for the other girl was out of sight before turning to face Jenna. Kari had known her for only a year. That was when things had started to go wrong, hadn’t it? At that moment, Jenna seemed to be the source of all her problems. In that exact moment, she could see one clear way to get rid of all those troublesome distractions in one, swift, deft blow. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.

There was a startled shriek, a scattering of bloodstained feathers, and a last desperate flap of wings.

Two birds on a wire.