by Pyronychus » Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:49 am
The beady eyes of a glossy black bird stared intently down from the top of a parking lot lamp post at a woman who had just walked out of a supermarket with a large cart stuffed full of food items. Perched precariously on top of the mountain of goods were several boxes that might have been just small enough for the bird to pick up if she got the angle right. Maybe. Just Maybe, thought the bird, scrutinizing some of the larger items in the cart and picking out possible targets. A bag of chips, some microwave dinners, a quart of orange juice; all within easy reach and small enough to get away with relatively quickly. As the woman came closer and finally stopped the cart near the back of her car, ready to open the trunk and load in the items, the bird hopped into the air with a single flap of her ebony wings and soared down, straight toward the heaped groceries. In one swift motion, she flared her wings, flung her claws forward, dug them under the edge of the plastic window of the topmost package, and flapped away across the parking lot with it, purposely staying low to the ground. She heard the woman scream, in fright or anger she couldn't tell, and promptly released her grip, the box clattering to the pavement, spilling a white trail of rice across an empty parking space. She swooped up and away, watching as the shocked woman stared disbelievingly at her before walking over toward the dropped package. Taking a steep nosedive, the raven headed toward the row of cars next to the one the woman's car was parked in and shot down behind them, flaring and landing in the shadow of a large SUV. Instantly, the bird began to grow, her body twisting and reshaping itself, her glossy feathers melting together and lightening in color, her beak being sucked back into her face as it flattened, brown hair sprouting out of her misshapen skull. Within a few seconds, where once stood a raven, now crouched a teenage girl, her black feathers having given way to a black sweatshirt with a distinctive wing-like pattern on the back, her jeans and shoes looking as though they had seen too much use in too short a time. As soon as her transition was complete, she leaped to her feet and bolted out from between the cars, running straight to the now undefended shopping cart. As she skidded to a stop and plunged her hands in, she heard an angry yell from the shopper, but ignored it, knowing she had only seconds to spare. She pulled out the chips, orange juice and one of the microwave dinners before spinning around and bolting away toward the supermarket. Her heart beat fast in her throat as she pounded down the pavement at full tilt and headed for the corner of the building. She knew from experience that there was another parking lot alongside the building that usually remained mostly empty. Knowing a security guard would probably be quick to respond to the angry shouts of the woman behind her, the girl rounded the corner with her stolen food, ran for the nearest empty parking space that was out of the woman's view, and threw herself into a crouch on the tarmac, holding the food close. As quickly as before, her body started to warp and grow. "Over there!" screeched the woman to the officer who had just stepped out of the market. "She went that way!" It took a few moments for the guard and shopper to run to the edge of the building and peer around at... a quiet parking lot, completely empty except for one dark blue Ford Ranger pickup. The officer gave her a skeptical look. "Are you sure she went this way?" "Yes! She went around this corner, I'm telling you!" The two turned away, the shopper continuing to assure the officer of what she had seen. Meanwhile, the driverless truck, with three stolen food items tucked safely behind the driver's seat, started its engine, backed up, and rolled out of the supermarket parking lot...
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