Flock 100

Past a few minutes of waiting, as they reached the head of the line for one of the few ride attractions in this zone, Willow left the two girls and took a bench to herself.

“Not coming?” Frankie asked.

“I’ve been on this one a million times.” She waved her hand, propping her shoulders to the back of the bench.

“Suuure. I think we’re on the right track here, Katie. That or she’s just scared.”

The swings felt barely attached to the 50-foot chains linking them to the spinning top of the Flock 100, but apparently they and all other 98 of the riders loaded onto the machine were safe.

“What do we do? Just look around?” Katie asked, a seat behind Frankie.

“Yeah! Just see if you find anything we couldn’t spot from the ground. We’ll talk afterwards!”

“Okay! Good luck!”

As the top slowly rose, taking their feet of the ground, both sisters felt a heat in their stomach as their legs dangled below them.

As the ride began to spin, they couldn’t start their search immediately- they were too taken in by the sight of them.

Birds, all around them, just far away enough from the swings to be safe, yet still coming so close it felt like you could reach out and grab one if park security wouldn’t fine you for it. As if their very minds were being controlled to perform this way. They had no idea why the birds would ever do something like this, and they didn’t appear to be robotic, but it seemed to be the draw of the ride. Of course, Frankie did her test to ignore the circle of avians surrounding them as she did a once-over of the whole area, trying her best to find their destination.

Most of the place was covered in trees, or, in one spot- dark, strange storm clouds somehow gathering over it and only it through the magic of weather manipulation. Even then, tall constructs jutted out. A watchtower to the north. A coaster on the south. And a little to the west, in that very same clouded area- one more watchtower. The only difference was, atop this one was a faint white shape, sprayed onto the roof in a way that (probably unintentionally) resembled a tremendous amount of bird excrement from this distance.

On each spin, she’d try and get a better look at it. What was it? Maybe just an ordinary marking. But the more she saw, the more she was sure. The shape was definitely one of a crow’s head, with a thin, sharp beak and a beady eye. If there was a chest or container near it, the color was too close to the roof to tell it apart, but that had to be it. A crow holds one of two special keys, out of sight from the prying eyes who seek it.

Frankie congratulated herself, about to enjoy the rest of the ride as the one who found it first. But she’s neglected to look right in front of her at the family of four, all using binoculars to peek out at that very same spot.

Frankie turned around midair to Katie.

“KATIE!”

“What?” It wasn’t easy to hear over the screams and air.

“WHEN WE GET OFF, GET READY TO RUN!”

Katie nodded before enjoying the rest of the ride in relative peace.