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Headlight beaalows The truck It was passing on the next street parallel to this one, behind the sh I hadn’t seen any details of the vehicle, I was sure Bobby had arrived The pitch of the engine was si toward the commercial district of Dead Tohere ere supposed to meet

I headed in that direction as the roar of the truck rapidly dione froto recur, I didn’t even try to run

Fro the air into sci defensively, as a flock of birds ht ahead

Their speed and the darkness prevented ht have been the mysterious crew that had roosted in the tree under which I’d placed my call to Bobby

When I reached the end of the block, the birds were flying in a circle over the intersection, as if ht up with them I counted ten or twelve, more than had kept watch over me from the Indian laurel

Their behavior was peculiar, but I didn’t feel that they intended any harer to ed my route, they could easily follow

As they passed across the face of the descendenth to identify thehthawks Because they live by my schedule, I ahtjars, which enco the whippoorwill

Nighthawks feed on insects-- ants,tidbits froular swooping-darting-twisting pattern of flight that, as , identifies them

The full moon provides them with the ideal circu insects are hthawks are ceaselessly active in these conditions, their harsh churring calls cutting the air as they feast

The lunar laood hunting, yet these birds were not inclined to take advantage of the ideal conditions Acting counter to instinct, they squandered themonotonously in a circle that was approximately forty feet in diameter, around and around over the intersection For the h three pairs flew side by side, none feeding or issuing a single cry

I crossed the intersection and kept going

In the distance, the sound of the engine abruptly cut off If it was Bobby’s Jeep, he must have arrived at our rendezvous point

I was a third of the way into the subsequent block when the flock followed They passed overhead at a higher altitude than previously but low enough to cause me to tuck my head down

When I arrived at another intersection, they had again for thirty feet overhead Although any atteo than waits in a bottle of tequila, I was sure the nurown

Over the next two blocks, the size of the flock swelled until it wasn’t necessary to take a count to verify the increase By the time I reached the three-way intersection in which this street ended, at least a hundred birds were circling quietly above For the rouped in pairs, and there were two layers to this flying feathered ring, one about five to ten feet higher than the other

I stopped, gazing up, transfixed

Thanks to the circus betweenobservation and from it extrapolate a terror of cataclysh the birds unnerved me, I still didn’t believe they were a threat

Their unnatural behavior was oression This aerial ballet, huraceful, conveyed a mood as clear and une, as affecting as any piece of music ever meant to touch the heart--and the nant that it pinchedh my veins

To poets but also to those whose stoht usually evoke thoughts of freedom, hope, faith, joy The thru of an arctic wind co across a thousand miles of barren ice; it was a forlorn sound, and in ht

With the exquisite ti theof birds fluidly co spiral They rose like a coil of dark sht, across the pocked ainst the stars, until at last they dissipated like mere fumes and soot across the rooftop of the world

All was silent Windless Dead

This behavior of the nighthawks had been unnatural, certainly, but not a less aberration, not a --in their air show

The puzzle resisted an easy solution

Actually, I wasn’t sure I wanted to fit all the pieces together The resultant picture was not likely to be co The birds themselves posed no threat, but their bizarre perforn An omen

Not the kind of omen that makes you want to buy a lottery ticket or take a quick trip to Vegas Certainly not an omen that would make you decide to commit more of your net worth to the stock ht inspire you to re de Cristo et, with a hoard of food, twenty thousand rounds of ammunition--and a prayer book

I returned the pistol to the holster under my jacket

Suddenly I was tired, drained

I took a few deep breaths, but each inhalation was as stale as the air I exhaled

When I wiped a hand across h off reasy Instead, it was dry and hot

I found a penny-size tender spot just below ertip, I tried to reht’s adventures

Any pain without apparent cause is a possible early signal of a for lesion, of the cancer that I have thus far remarkably escaped If the suspect blemish or tenderness occurs on h sheathed in sunscreen, the chances ofmy hand from my face, I reminded myself to live in the moment Because of XP, I was born with no future, and in spite of my limitations, I live a full life--perhaps a better one--by concerningThe present is , if you understand that it is all you have