bombs
ovenbird
When
a
bomb
hidden
in
the
high
school
explodes
the
colony
of
one
hundred
baby
vultures
living
in
a
tree
in
the
courtyard
will
be
blown
to
bits.
I
am
determined
to
save
them
.
Have
you
ever
seen
a
baby
vulture?
They
’re unexpectedly
adorable
.
They
have
cotton
ball
fluff
bodies
with
hairless
faces
that
look
like
plague
masks
.
The
discrepancy
between
these
two
features
is
jarring
and
so
cute
it
’s
hard
to
handle
.
When
I
look
up
into
the
tree
and
see
all
their
dumb
baby
eyes
peering
out
of
their
totally
clueless
faces
attached
to
their
stupidly
soft
bodies
I
am
overcome
with
an
instinct
to
protect
them
.
I
develop
a
plan
.
A
daft
and
unreasonable
plan
.
I
find
a
small
trampoline
in
the
school
gym
and
drag
into
position
under
the
tree
.
I
know
they
can
’t
fly
yet
so
I
figure
they
can
jump
down
onto
the
trampoline
and
I
’ll
collect
them
in
a
wheelbarrow
and
take
them
away
to
safety
in
small
batches.
The
trouble
is
that
vultures don’t
speak
English
and
I
have
no
way
to
communicate
what
I
want
them
to
do
.
Not
a
single
one
jumps
down
from
the
tree
.
As
I
’m
trying
to
puzzle
out
a
solution,
a
boy
I
know
approaches
me
.
He
shows
me
the
school
website
where
a
picture
of
me
topless
has
been
posted
for
everyone
to
see
.
He
asks
if
I
’ll reenact
it
for
him
.
I
tell
him
he
’s
vile
.
I
forget
about
the
baby
vultures
as
I
try
to
control
the
fallout
of
this
unexpected
betrayal
.
Sometimes
when
you
’re
waiting
for
a
bomb
to
go
off
it
’s
your
life
that
blows
up
instead
.
260129
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