Bird box

Felix nervously turns toward the well. He pulls on the crossbar’s rope and discovers that, yes, he tied it to the handle before knocking it in. He releases the rope. He turns toward the rest of the yard. He pauses. Then he begins bringing the second bucket back up.

On the walk back toward the house, Jules is asking him questions.

“Are you all right, Felix?”

“Yes.”

“You just dropped it in?”

“I knocked it in. Yes. I thought I heard something again.”

“What did it sound like? A stick breaking?”

“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.”

When Felix reaches Jules, Jules takes the bucket.

“Are you sure you’re up for this today?”

“Yes. I’ve already gotten two buckets. It’s all right. I’m just fucking hearing things out there, Jules.”

“Want me to get the last one?”

“No. I can do it.”

Jules knocks on the back door. Cheryl opens it, receives the bucket, then hands Jules the third.

“Are you guys all right?” she asks.

“Yes,” Felix says. “We’re fine.”

Cheryl shuts the door.

“Here you are,” Jules says. “If you need me, tell me. Remember, you’re connected here.”

He tugs on the rope.

“All right.”

On the third trip to the well, Felix has to remind himself to slow down again. He understands why he is rushing. He wants to be back inside, where he can look Jules in the face, where the blankets over the windows make him feel safer. Still, he reaches the well sooner than he expects. Slowly, he ties the crossbar rope to the bucket’s handle. Then he pauses.

There are no sounds out here except the voice of Jules, coming from the other end of the rope.

The world, it seems, is unnaturally quiet.

Felix turns the crank.

“That’s one, that’s two . . .”

Jules is talking. His voice sounds far away. Too far.

“. . . that’s six, that’s seven . . .”

Jules sounds anxious. Why did he sound anxious? Should he?

“. . . that’s ten, that’s eleven . . .”

Sweat forms behind Felix’s blindfold. It slowly travels down the length of his nose.

We’ll be inside in no time, Felix thinks. Just fill the third bucket and get the fuck—

He hears the sound again. For the third time.

But now, he can tell where it is coming from.

It is coming from inside the well.

He releases the crank and steps back. The bucket falls, crashing against the stone, before splashing below.

Something moved. Something moved in the water.

Did something move in the water?

Suddenly he feels cold, too cold. He is shaking.

Jules calls to him but Felix doesn’t want to call back. He doesn’t want to make a sound.

He waits. And the longer he waits, the more scared he gets. Like the silence is getting louder. Like he’s about to hear something he doesn’t want to hear. But when no sound comes, he slowly begins to convince himself that he was wrong. Sure, it could have been something in the well but it could have been something in the river, too. Or the woods. Or the grass.

It could have come from anywhere out here.

He steps toward the well again. Before reaching for the rope, he touches the cobblestone lip. He runs his fingers across it. He is determining how wide it is.

Could you fit in there? Could someone fit in there?

He isn’t sure. He turns toward the house, ready to leave the bucket where it is. Then he turns back to the well and begins turning the crank, fast.

You’re hearing things. You’re losing your marbles, man. Get this thing up. Get back inside. Now.

But as he cranks, Felix feels the very beginning of a fear that could grow too big to handle. The bucket, he thinks, feels the littlest bit heavier than it normally does.

It’s NOT heavier! Get the bucket UP and get BACK inside NOW!!

When the bucket reaches the lip, Felix stops. Slowly, with one hand, he reaches toward it. His hand is shaking. When his fingers touch the wet, steel rim he swallows once, hard. He locks the crank. Then he sticks his hand into the bucket.

“Felix?”

Jules is calling.

Felix feels nothing but water in the bucket.

You see? You’re imagining—

Behind him, he hears wet feet on the grass.

Felix drops the bucket and runs.

He falls.

Get up.

He gets back up and runs.

Jules is calling to him. He is calling back.

He falls again.

Get up. Get up.

He gets up again. He runs.

Jules’s hands are upon him.

The back door is opening. Someone else’s hands are upon him. He is inside. Everyone is talking at once. Don is yelling. Cheryl is yelling. Tom is telling everyone to calm down. The back door is closed. Olympia is asking what is going on. Cheryl is asking what happened. Tom is telling everyone to close their eyes. Somebody is touching Felix. Jules yells at everyone to be quiet.

They are.

Then Tom is speaking, quietly.

“Don, did you search by the back door?”

“How the fuck should I know if I did it right, man?”