Seagull

Seagull

Terri saw a seagull for the first time when she was eight. She had fainted nearly immediately when she saw it. How could something actually suspend itself in the air? It wheeled and turned in the sky, then turned and headed out into the ocean. Then Terri blacked out. Her young mind couldn’t comprehend how something could defy the gravity she had known her entire life. She had been quite sure that she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. Over the period of the next four years of her life, Terri was obsessed with seagulls. She researched them, she painted them, and she hunted them, just to catch a glimpse of another one. By the time she turned twelve, Terri had seen two more of the wondrous creatures. They were grey as the stormy sea, and white as the purest milk quartz. Terri searched desperately, but she could find no pictures of any seagull, even on the net. She hung her best painting of a seagull on her bedroom wall, where she could fall asleep to the magnificence of the most perfect being she had ever laid eyes in, even if it was only a poor replica in paint form.
Her grandfather, an ancient man of one hundred and fifteen, stood like a withered old tree. He told her stories of a time when he was very young when seagulls had been common, and you could see them anywhere. Terri scoffed that anything so powerfully wonderful couldn’t be common because that would ruin the magic. Her grandfather had laughed and told her that there had been many other seagulls called birds that looked somewhat like gulls, but were different. Some had bigger beaks, or were smaller in general, but almost all of them flew. You saw them flying around everywhere, and they had beautiful voices, not like the harsh call of a seagull. She replied that she thought that the sounds a seagull made were very beautiful, and that she was glad there weren’t anymore birds, because now she could enjoy seagulls the best. Her grandfather chuckled sadly and lapsed into silence. Terri fell to sleep that night thinking about things that flew other than seagulls, and she decided that her grandfather was crazy. Old age must be setting in, because she knew that only seagulls had ever been here, and nothing could take that away from them.
In school, Terri asked her teacher about seagulls. Her teacher replied that they were the only thing in the world that could fly, and scientists couldn’t find out why nothing else could. Terri proudly gave her grandfather the answer that seagulls were the only things that could fly. He told her that when he was young, humans had machines that could for them. They were called airplanes, and they flew far higher than any bird. Terri interrupted by saying that birds weren’t real, only seagulls. This time, her grandfather ended up defending himself, and Terri eventually fell to angry tears. Her mother brought her up to bed, scolding Terri’s grandfather for making up stories that upset Terri. That night her dreams were filled with images of her grandfather shooting seagulls, and putting up hideous pictures of birds up in their place in the sky.
The next day in school, Terri decided to let her best friend Joel in on the secret that she was crazy about seagulls. Joel was fascinated too, and though she had never seen an actual seagull, she was entranced by Terri’s paintings. It was that night when Joel told Terri that she was actually a boy. Terri had no idea before then, and they both found it entertaining that any God out there could accidentally put a girl in a boy’s body. They knew that Joel was a girl no matter what she was physically. It was the heart that counted. Not that Joel’s identity was any sort of a secret. Her parents were very proud of her, and most of the faculty at their school knew as well. Terri had first met Joel when she was nine. Terri had been climbing a tree behind the school, which was strictly forbidden. She got about fifteen feet up, then got stuck and couldn’t get down. No one heard her cries for help until Joel walked by and saw her. Joel climbed the tree like she’d been born to do it, then carried Terri down. Terri didn’t mention it at the time, but she had been climbing the tree to try to find out what seagulls saw when they were so high. She and Joel were best friends after that, and nothing could pull them apart.

Terri walked slowly down the stairs. The ridged metal under her bit into her bare feet, but she didn’t make a sound. She couldn’t have anyone wake up, or she wouldn’t be able to do what she wanted.
She was sure she had heard the cry of a seagull. That sound could wake her at any time, no matter how tired she was. If she got outside quickly, she might be able to see it.
She silently reached the ground level. Moonlight tumbled through the windows, illuminating papers strewn across the floor. Her mother worked for the local papers, and her house was a constant mess. There were no sounds as Terri nimbly dodged the paper stacks and books. She found her way to the front door. Her parents thought she couldn’t open it, but she saw them every time they opened it, so she knew the combination. The panel was still high off the ground, though, and she had to stand on her tip-toes to reach it. The code was 22-74-83. She made several mistakes at first, but since the panel knew her fingerprints, it didn’t set off the alarm. Eventually the door slid open with a greased hush that gave Terri goose bumps. Outside, the cement path leading to the road slipped into darkness, and the street was hidden from view.
Terri’s ears perked as she heard the cry of the seagull again. She looked up but all she saw were the tall buildings along her block. The small whine of a car in the distance met her ears, and she wished it would go away so she could listen. Joel would be proud of her. Joel had a habit of disobeying rules, and what Terri was doing was most certainly a violation of correct conduct. Terri suddenly found herself wishing Joel was here. She wanted so badly for her friend to see a real seagull...
The car’s whine started getting louder. Terri turned her head to look at the road. A police car in its black and white coat was heading right for her house. Terri wondered if it was because she was outside after hours. She knew that Joel would be saying to hide and not get caught, but Terri figured if she was going to get caught, it would be better not to be hiding and looking guilty. The police car stopped at her front gate and two officers got out. They were holding guns.
“What are you doing out of your unit after hours? You have an obligation to be asleep ” They were yelling and Terri didn’t know why. Their guns weren’t pointed at her, but they made her nervous.
“I heard a seagull,” she replied quietly. “I wanted to come out and see it. They’re the most wonderful things, don’t you think?”
One of the officers swore under his breath. Terri heard the gull’s cry again, high and majestic. She looked up and there was a shape, flapping in the sky. Her face split into a wide grin, as she gazed at the perfection of flight. She wished with all her heart she could be up there.
There was a roar of sound. Terri’s head snapped down to the officers. One had his gun pointed at the sky, and it was smoking, and the seagull was falling...
Terri screamed. She started to run, but the police grabbed her arms and forced her into their car. Terri couldn’t stop screaming. She heard a dull thud outside, and strong arm thrust a wet cloth over her mouth and nose, and she was falling into darkness and she was still screaming, but everything was going quiet.

“Why won’t she talk?”
“She was violating international law.”
“But why won’t she talk!”
“If we knew that, she wouldn’t be here.”
“It was a harmless fantasy, why is she being punished like this?
“You knew the law when you didn’t stop her inquisitiveness immediately.”
“How could we have stopped her? She was--”
“You should have reported her actions immediately. She was becoming a danger to those around her.”
“Hardly a danger! She was only asking questions!”
“Questions that aren’t meant to be answered. We had enough problems with your father, he’s been giving away information that he swore by penalty of death he would keep secret.”
“Well, at least let her best friend visit her, she might start talking.”
“I won’t permit a transvestite to walk freely in here.”
“She’s only twelve years old! Now you’re being unreasonable.”
“He. He’s twelve years old. And I fail to see the difference age makes.”
“And here I thought your kind was extinct. Our own president is homosexual!”
“I didn’t vote for him.”
“I’m ending this conversation.”

Terri lay in the white bed with the white covers in the white room for a long time. There was a window next to her bed, but she never bothered to look out it. Occasionally nurses or policemen would come in and try to talk to her, but she never said anything. She wanted to see Joel. That was the only person she would talk to right now. Her mother had come in to get her to speak, but Terri was obstinate. For three days she didn’t say a word, and ate only when she was forced to. She kept replaying the gunshot and the seagull falling over and over in her mind. At night she cried, like she wouldn’t in front of any people. She knew the room was bugged, and she knew they were listening, but she couldn’t help but cry.
On the fourth day, a man in a long beige coat walked in. He was short and somewhat squat, and he had a low hat covering his head. His face was unremarkable, but Terri was immediately terrified of him. There was something in the way he walked, or the way he held himself, but he was frightening. He pulled up a chair and sat by Terri’s bed. There was a long silence in which Terri almost caught herself fearing for her life. Then he spoke.
“Do you know why you are here, Terri?” His voice seemed kind, and Terri almost answered him, but she remained close-mouthed. He watched her until she had to look away.
“All we want to know is why you love the seagulls so much. That’s not too much to ask, now, is it?” No, no, it’s not, it’s not! Part of her mind screamed. Just answer him! She suppressed the voice. She wasn’t looking at him, but she could feel his eyes boring a hole in the back of her skull.
“Terri, the officer who shot the seagull has been expelled from his duties, so there is justice, just--”
“Why, why did he shoot it? Why am I in here? What’s going on?” Terri cried. She burst into tears, and didn’t bother to wipe her eyes. The man just stared. Then he sighed.
“Terri, I’m going to tell you the truth.” Terri glared at him hatefully through her tears, but didn’t stop him. He paused for a moment, then continued.
“Your grandfather is the last man alive who actually lived through America’s ‘Golden Age.’ All the others have died, mostly from old age.” Terri remained silent. Golden Age? What was he talking about?
“Before about ninety years ago, seagulls weren’t the only things that flew. There were others like them that were called birds. They were very common everywhere.”
“Grandpa told me about them. I didn’t believe him and I don’t believe you.” For a moment a shadow of rage passed over the man’s face, but before Terri could even be sure she saw it, it had passed.
“He wasn’t lying. Even humans could fly back then. We had machines called airplanes that were made of metal and in them we could fly.” Terri rocked side to side, eyes closed and shaking her head. The man kept talking.
Then ninety years ago, a disease hit the birds. It killed all of them but the seagulls and killed a fair number of humans as well. Actually, that’s an understatement. Two billion people died. At that time, there were six billion people in the world. The world nations panicked, and as quickly as they could, they joined together to try to repair damages. It was decided that since the best way to destroy other people was using bombs dropped by airplanes, all air travel would be abolished. No more flying.” Terri continued rocking, then started muttering in a feverish tone.
“Don’t kill the seagulls, don’t kill the seagulls, don’t kill the seagulls...” The man looked at her impassively.
“Most people don’t know about what I’ve just told you. Only official posts know, and they are silenced if they let any information slip. Those officers were still afraid of the gulls, afraid they might carry the disease still. We can’t allow the plague to happen again. Eventually, there won’t even be seagulls anymore.” The man finally got up and left, leaving Terri to herself. Outside, he greeted a guard by the door.
“She knows too much, and it’s possible she’s roused other people’s curiosity. This community has to be swept for potential truth-seekers. Dispose of the girl.”

A shrill cry came from Terri’s window. She dashed to it, but no flapping shape was in the sky. She sagged with sadness, until she saw something on the window sill.
A feather.