It is DAY 19 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. We are hearing a lot of fiction these days. Oh boy. It’s definitely that time. It’s so bad this time around that it’s beyond typical and outrageous, it’s alarming and worrisome. I was thinking about doing something spoofy. Instead, maybe I can try to take your mind off of those disturbing things. I’m Commercial Herschel, and I’m here to help.
Let me first thank my newest subscriber,
. Here is their link. I always thank my new subscribers and followers. Don’t let me be too direct, but… hint hint… restacks are an awesome way to reciprocate.
Message From Eagle
Grounding and Soaring
610 WORDS WRITTEN IN ABOUT A HALF HOUR
“I have a stone in my shoe." Grace says. “Can we hold up a minute?” Grace sits down and takes off her boot as she is on a hike with her boyfriend, Tom.
“You know what? We should barefoot hike this trail; it's OK; it's made for that.” Tom tells her. “You want to?"
"Really, what do you mean it's made for it?" She replies.
"They groomed it this way, see how it's flat and smooth?" Since people do it all the time, it just smooths out, and it's pretty cool on the feet. “We can tie our boots onto our packs, and when we get to the top, we'll put them back on, then take them off again on the way down.”
“I like it!” Grace says enthusiastically.
It's about a 300-foot slope, and there's a lot to see along the way, and the bare ground is soothing to the bottoms of their feet.
“People say it's good to be outside and in nature with bare feet.” Grace says. “Our ancestors did a lot of this, whether they chose to or not.”
“It's grounding.” Tom says. “Supposed to be energetically cleansing to connect to the Earth this way.”
“Woo woo,” Grace says, and they laugh.
As they move along the trail, they approach an area with a ridge. They approach the tops of trees that are rooted in the ravine below. They are near eye level with them.
Grace whispers. “Look, there is an eagle perching right there, I've never seen one so up-close like this!”
“Wow.” Tom says, “Let's not spook it. Let's go slow and see how close we can get.”
They are less than 20 feet away from a massive Bald Eagle when it notices them. It sees them and looks Grace straight in the eye. In one motion, the giant bird looks away, leans forward, and dives briefly. Then it opens its wings and pumps them up quickly with a whooshing sound. It turns up over the top of the tree, looking down and back at them as it flies over their heads, taking off over the hill on the other side of the trail.
“That is ridiculous. It looks like a small man in a bird outfit. I had no idea how big those things are.” Tom says.
“It looked right into my eyes.” Grace says. “Can you imagine having eyes like an eagle, and then looking into the eyes of a predatory human at such a short distance?” That must have really freaked it out. “Damn!”
They continue along the trail and notice something wedged between some rocks. It's a small plastic container.
“What is that?” Tom says. “Should we open it?”
“Heck, yeah, we should open it.” Grace answers.
Inside the container is a rolled-up piece of paper. They unroll it, and it reads:
“Television is an appliance. It is applied to the viewers by the people on the other end of the plug.” ~ Antler Pestle
“Who is Antler Pestle?” Grace says.
Tom replies, “I don't know, but I like him.”
“We should definitely keep that right in those rocks for all the hikers.” Grace says as she rolls up the message and places everything back the way she found it.
The two make it to the top of the hill. It's a small clearing with a border of rocks looking out, about a thousand feet high. There is a small tributary with a beaver dam and wild native growth as far as one can see. They sit down, drink some water, cuddle, and make their plans for the rest of the day.
“I'm keeping my boots off.” Grace says.
The End.
Touch grass. I hope you can do that some time. I hope you might get a paid subscription, or buy me a coffee, or donate some bitcoin. I wish you the best. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help.
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