(Construction site, São Sebastião)
Close to noon, on a beautiful day. On the last floor of a nearly finished building, a young Spix's macaw lifted a sledgehammer above his head before bringing it down on a wall of bricks. He did it over and over again, his dark blue feathers drenched in sweat. He eventually stopped to run a wing through his head feathers and retrieve his water bottle from his bag, taking a big sip after finding a good spot to sit down.
This young Spix's macaw was Jordao. An exceptionally handsome male with shoulders tilting forward and flamboyant dark blue feathers. He was 35, but his solid figure and wings made it look like he didn't even cross half of his twenties.
Once his muscles were rested enough, he got back on his talons, ready to cause more destruction with his sledgehammer. He rose his trusty tool over his head, and-
"You really should rest longer, y'know..."
Hearing this familiar voice, Jordao stopped in his tracks, a smile creeping on his stone-grey beak. He turned around, his chocolate brown eyes meeting the sky-blue ones he fell in love with. The woman owning them had feathers that looked like blue flames, her tail swinging elegantly in the wind. Her beauty was like a fire that could burn anyone getting too close.
"What are you doing here? You know that non-employees aren't allowed in here," Jordao pointed out, pulling his sledgehammer on the floor.
"I know, but I just missed you so much..."
"You know we last saw each other just four hours ago."
"And have you any idea how long that is for a poor, lonely girl like me?"
"You're crazy." He wrapped his wings around her waist and pressed his beak against hers.
This was Isabel, the center of Jordao's universe. They had known each other for eight months, and she quickly became the sun that brought the light in his life. The smiles they exchanged always felt natural and as beautiful as the scenery surrounding them... when it was not a construction site, of course.
Jordao felt a balance of joy and pain from seeing Isabel. Joy because he loved her, of course. But also pain because it reminded him of an unpleasant detail: she lived in São Paulo while he lived in São Sebastião. Yes, they lived in different Sãos with 117 miles separating them, spreading from the coast of Brazil to its center. One would believe they would have moved together after being a couple for so long, but neither macaw was ready to leave his/her home. Because of this, the couple only got to see each other once a month, when Isabel got to visit São Sebastião. While sad, this situation also made their time together all the more special.
So, Jordao built his life around three things: his job, his friends, and Isabel. He had been working for Galvão, the biggest construction company in the region, as a demolition expert for the last twenty years. All these years of hard work gave him his pulsating muscles as well as his shoulders tilting forward. Isabel, meanwhile, directed her own independent medical band, tending to all the wounded and caring for all those they could help. She created it about two years after obtaining her doctor of medicine. Apparently, the hospitals in São Paulo were too noisy and lacked the desire to truly help animals like she wanted to. Thus, she used her lifelong economies to buy a lodgment, medical equipment, and staff to help her.
Jordao and Isabel could not be more different with one being tall, strong and good at destroying things while the other was small, soft and liked to fix other animals. Yet, a special force kept them together since the moment they met. A force called love.
"So you came all the way here just to get a kiss?" Jordao asked, without releasing Isabel from his hold.
"That would've been enough a reason... But no, I actually came to give you this." Isabel handed Jordao a paper envelope he failed to notice in her wing.
"What is it?" he asked, taking the little piece of paper and looking at it from every angle. It was heavy and made of low-quality paper with holes here and there. The envelope was decorated by a single stamp displaying Copacabana in all its glory. He read the awkwardly-written note on the front: "Mr Jordao, 3135 Rochas Avenue, São Sebastião". Lifting the envelope to his beak, Jordao took a good sniff and frowned at the familiar scent of coal and sulfur. "What is it?"
"Open it; you'll see," Isabel urged him, a smile on her beautiful beak.
Rolling his eyes, Jordao used the pointy tip of his beak to cut through the top of the envelope. He removed and unfolded the paper inside, reading it out loud as he ran his eyes across the words. "Dear Mr Jordao,
I am writing to confirm my acceptance of your employment demand from June 2nd. It is with the greatest of delights that I announce you that you will be joining Salgado Inc. as a demolition expert. After carefully examining your CV, I believe you have everything we are looking for and that you can make a great contribution to the company.
You are expected at the 460, 150th Avenue, São Paulo next Friday at 11:00 AM so that we can officially meet, show you the working environment, your daily work routine, and introduce you to your team.
We look forward to working with you and are very glad to have you joining our team.
Sincerely,
Rodriguez"
Jordao's eyes had widened at about 1/3 of the letter and remained like this long after he finished reading. He opened and closed his beak many times before the words finally managed to come out: "This is..."
"Yes," Isabel confirmed, the smile never leaving her beak.
After remaining petrified for an eternity, Jordao felt a surge of energy coursing through his entire being - he could climb mountains and swim through oceans! "YES!" he beamed and launched the note in the air, not caring about his co-workers giving weird glances in his direction. "They accepted me!"
"I know! This is amazing, right?"
"What do you mean, you know? Did you check the note before bringing it here?"
"No; I just had a good feeling, that's all."
Jordao once again wrapped his wings around Isabel's waist, spinning her around like a tornado, and then giving her the strongest, most passionate kiss he ever gave. He had expected her to share his enthusiasm... but instead, Isabel's smile melted away, and she looked at the floor. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing," she assured, giving a fake smile that was far from being as sincere or as beautiful as the previous one.
Jordao took her face in his wing and kissed her again. "Come on, you know you can tell me anything."
"... Fine, it's just... I'm happy that you got your job and that we'll get to see each other every day, but... you realize what this means, Jordao? You're gonna have to leave São Sebastião."
Every good news had to carry some bad ones. "Yeah, I know," was all he managed to say. Answering so casually was not appropriate for the situation, and Jordao knew it, but he did not want to make a scene.
Isabel, however, didn't take this response lightly. "'Yeah, I know'? That's it? Jo, you've lived here your entire life - all of your friends and the animals you know live here! How can you be so... indifferent?"
"I'm not indifferent at all, Bel," Jordao denied. "This is not a decision I've taken lightly, I can assure you. But... honestly, I knew this day would come the very moment I sent my job demand. I was not exactly expecting to work for a São Paulo enterprise while remaining in São Sebastião. Besides...," he kissed Isabel once more, "I made this demand because I wanted to be with you, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember..." They remained silent for many seconds. "So... what about your friends? How are they gonna react to the news?"
A chuckle escaped Jordao's beak. "They're already aware; I told them about my plans to move out. You should've seen Cody's face; he thought that I joked, but started panicking when I made it clear I was dead serious."
Isabel couldn't hold back a snicker. That would totally be Cody. "How did they take it?"
"They were sad, of course, but they respected my decision. They understand that men would do anything to be with the love of their life... Like leaving their hometown. As for Cody... Well, you know him. He insisted on throwing me the 'biggest goodbye party our town has ever seen'," Jordao explained, doing quotes with his wingtips.
"A party? That sounds fun, when is it gonna be?"
"This very evening at my home. Knowing Cody, he's probably exporting thousands of drinks to my home as we speak. Tristan said he'd bring his music blaster and the best numbers from his collection. And, of course...," he gave her a wink, "... you are welcome to join us."
"I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world." She returned the wink and kissed him on the cheek. "See you tonight, Jo-Jo." As she turned around and started leaving, her hips swayed almost hypnotically. Jordao always found her démarche to be irresistible.
The rest of the day went by smoothly. After announcing to everyone that he got a new job in São Paulo, Jordao received many words of kindness and encouragement from his now former co-workers. His boss even allowed him to keep the sledgehammer he had been using since the day he got engaged. This filled Jordao's heart with joy; he could not picture himself without his beloved sledgehammer. It was with a heavy heart that Jordao left the construction site, waved one last time at everyone, and started heading home.
As he walked on the sidewalk, Jordao found himself giving a deep, thoughtful stare at his surroundings. You couldn't make a more compact city than São Sebastião; it looked like the gods had built too many houses in a hurry and decided to pile them all up in the same place, creating a mess! And these houses were all boxes made of bricks and junk, most of which had been built by the enterprise Jordao worked for. The air, while fresh, still carried the stinging odor favelas of Brazil were known for. "Pretty ironic," thought Jordao. "I lived here since the day I was born, and it's only when I'm leaving that I start appreciating it for what it is."
Jordao ascended a small hill on the rim of the town. A little pink glow was emerging on the horizon. The red sun sent its last rays of the day through the trees and onto the tops of the buildings. Upon reaching the top of the hill, Jordao's house came into view.
One would have mistaken it for a garage that had been modified to serve as a residence. It only had one floor with one chimney standing on the awkwardly red-painted rooftop. A sign confirming Jordao's address was planted along the path leading to the front door. Tall, green trees were marking the entrance to a rainforest behind Jordao's house. It was far from being luxurious... but it was his home and he loved it.
When he opened the front door and slipped into his house, Jordao was startled by an explosion of screams. His friends had invaded the entire place, each of them adorning their best smile and opening their wings. Every corner was occupied by cakes, macarons, bottles or bowls of fruit punch. Tristan had brought his high-tech musical set that was currently plugged in the living room. Finally, a banner reading: "Have a nice trip, Jordao" was displayed above the entrance hall.
"Aww, guys!" Jordao exclaimed. "You shouldn't have!"
"'You shouldn't have'? Stop acting like you didn't know this was coming, dude!"
Cody strode through the crowd and came to stand in front of Jordao. Just like Jordao and Isabel, he was a Spix's macaw, his feathers looking more like his best friend's. His face was amusing, and his eternal grin still decorated his little beak. He stood about five inches taller than his best friend with his wings being longer, but even then, he never tried to get into a fight with him.
He pointed an almost accusing feather at Jordao. "I explicitly told you that I was gonna throw the-"
"Biggest goodbye party our town has ever seen, I know."
"Right. And the day Cody doesn't keep his word will be a sad one indeed." Cody tossed his head backwards and let out a loud, almost exaggerated laughter that resonated across the entire house.
Jordao sighed. "You're annoying, you know that?"
"Ha, but do you know why macaws are so annoying? Because they constantly parrot things back to you!"
As Cody burst into yet another fit of laughter, Jordao couldn't prevent a little smile from spreading in the corners of his beak. With so much enthusiasm and a love for terrible puns, the two of them were destined to become best friends.
"Now, come on! It's time to rock the house!"
Jordao went to get something to eat and immediately guessed his friends did everything to make the food as delicious as possible. After engulfing two little cakes and five macarons, he made his way to his living room that turned into a dance floor. Cody was breaking it, spinning all around like a hurricane with his samba moves. Good thing Jordao's friends had the kindness of moving his precious objects away, as Cody would've no doubt demolished them all by now.
About half an hour after the party started, Jordao sneaked to the kitchen, where things would be calmer. The room was small and messy, with a wooden table and two chairs decorating its center. He sat down on one of them to rest a bit. While he was having a lot of fun, a detail bothered the young Spix's macaw's mind: where was Isabel? Didn't she say that she would attend his farewell party? Did she have to work later?
Two wings came out of nowhere and covered Jordao's eyes before he could have another thought. Two very soft wings. "Missed me, Jo-Jo?" mumbled a sugary voice in his ear.
Jordao's beak immediately curled into a smile as he turned around and kissed the girl of his life. "You're late, Bel. Didn't you say you wouldn't miss this party for anything in the world?"
"Maybe I wanted to be desired a little more?" Isabel cooed, wrapping her wings around Jordao's neck and kissing him passionately. It sent a shiver through his entire being every time. "Now, come on, let's stop talking and go shake our tail feathers!"
Isabel grabbed Jordao's wing with both of hers and led him back to the living room. She addressed beaming smiles to everyone as they passed, chasing Cody away from the middle of the dance floor. "You've danced enough; it's our turn now," she told him. "Come on, Tristan! Give us a beat!"
Tristan smiled and gave a thumb's up, looking through his collection of discs. With a solid shape like his, one would think that he was Jordao's brother. The only noticeable difference was that Tristan's head feathers were arranged to look like a mohawk. He grabbed a disc, pulled it into the machine, and a groovy hip-hop song was blasted at full power.
Jordao's cheeks were on fire. He did share dances with Isabel before - one or two, actually - but that was always when they were alone at his house, never in front of an audience! Isabel grabbed his wings, slipping one around her waist and firmly holding the other with her wing. Now in position, the couple started dancing (Jordao saw Cody and Tristan snicker while sending him signs).
Jordao realized it wasn't as bad as he had expected while grooving around with the girl of his life. He felt nervous at first, but quickly got into the beat of things. The other birds just clapped for the young couple before eventually joining them on the dance floor, laughing and beaming as they swirled everywhere. The entire room was swarmed by blue feathers and grey beaks. Of course, cardinals, canaries and other avian species were all friends of Jordao's, but the Spix's macaw was the most common species in São Sebastião's region.
After one hour of shifting their tail feathers across the floor and twirling around, Jordao and Isabel decided to take a break and escape the party's excitation. They exited the house and flew up on the rooftop to lay down and watch the sky. They could still hear the distinctive music coming from the inside, and the roof vibrated underneath their backs. But they didn't mind.
Overall, Jordao had to admit that despite it being a farewell night, his life had taken on a promising and exciting turn. He was already wondering how São Paulo would look with its skyscrapers reaching to the heavens, hundreds of different birds and animals, and lively way of life. Isabel described the city to him on many occasions, but it would be an entirely different thing to see it in person.
Jordao's mind drifted toward his future job. How would it be? Were his soon-to-be co-workers going to be as nice as the ones he worked with for so long? And his boss? The letter gave the impression of a charming boss caring for his employees, but the state of the letter in question made it look like he was too lazy to give himself the effort to make a dignified response paper. Only time would tell.
The sky looked particularly beautiful that night. Blue, pink and azure all danced together to create a unique show across eternity. A show that could fill even the coldest of hearts with warmth. The pale crescent moon looked like a big eye looking at them mere mortals from another world, with the hundreds of stars around it serving as shimmering tears. Insects were chirping (though it wasn't easy to hear them over the music) and the cool night breeze brushed over the two avians' feathers.
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Isabel finally broke the silence.
"Yeah," Jordao agreed, not looking away from the sky. "Are nights in São Paulo like this too?"
"Nope. The city is always illuminated, even at night. You can hardly see the stars or the moon because of this."
Jordao's enthusiasm dropped a bit after hearing this. Another long silence settled between the two macaws being only disturbed by the music, the bugs and the branches cracking in the wind. Jordao turned his head to look at Isabel. The moonlight reflected in her sky-blue eyes, making them stand out even more. Her feathers were also illuminated, making her look like a fallen angel. 'Fallen' being the key word because of the melancholic expression on her face, almost as if she felt guilty.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"I know how much you love this town and your friends, Jordao. Leaving all of this behind must be really hard on you, and... I can't help but feel like I'm responsible for it," Isabel admitted, her gaze drifting away from the sky and down on herself. "You shouldn't have to force yourself through this just for me... It's true that you already got accepted by your new post, but maybe it's not too late to-"
Jordao interrupted her by rolling on top of her and planting his beak on hers. The kiss lasted twenty seconds before he took her face with his wing and gave her the most serious look in the world. "Bel, I forbid you from feeling guilty for me. Everything I do is on my own accord. I'm always at my happiest when you're around - I'd do anything to spend more time with you. And I know you feel the same way about me."
"Besides... my father once told me something important. He told me that friendship is at the bottom of relationships we must prioritize. Our lover and children comes first, then our parents, our siblings, and our friends. My dad told me that things would change as I grew up and that my relations with my friends could take a hit from it. I remember this guy, Simon, with whom I used to play all the time when I was a chick. One day, I learned that he had to move out of town with his parents, and I've never seen him since."
"Then, there's Cody; when we were kids, he lived across the street, and we could see each other every day. Now, we're lucky if we can meet to share a drink and catch up with our lives twice a week."
"Where are you going with this?" Isabel asked, not liking to see her boyfriend going through these painful memories.
"Of course I'm sad to leave my friends, Isabel. But... I can't let this prevent me from living my life - and I know I'll regret it if I spend another month away from you. I'm an adult now, and adults must make sacrifices. Besides...," he marked a pause when Cody yelled something, making everyone inside the house laugh, "... it's not like I'll never see them again. We'll still visit them once in a while, as you did with me. For me, that's more than enough... especially if it means being with you."
Isabel's beak trembled, pearls coming out of her eyes and down her cheeks. These words set up the fire inside her heart and instinctively made her lock beaks with Jordao for the best kiss she could give. Of course, he wrapped his wings around her and returned it with passion. For a while, the world ceased to exist around them. There was no sadness, no jobs, no party... Just the two of them. Nothing could break this magic moment...
At least, this is what they thought until Cody's voice broke the silence. "Guys! Guys! Jo! Isabel! Get down here! Something's wrong!"
The couple broke their kiss right away, Jordao getting off Isabel. "What's going on, Cody?" he asked.
They realized that something weird happened while they were kissing. The noises coming from inside the house changed. They could no longer hear music and cheers, but confused exclamations and an odd silence.
"You need to come back inside, guys! The power has been cut off for some reason; we're all in the dark now!" Cody explained. "Hurry! Come!" He returned inside with Jordao and Isabel on his heels.
Darkness filled Jordao's house. So much that the only few sources of light came from the nearby streetlamps and the rays of moonlight that managed to come through the windows. Panicked voices rose in the air, with confused steps echoing all around. Jordao bumped into many of his friends on his way to the kitchen, where he grabbed the flashlight on top of his fridge. He turned it on, illuminating the house and the figures of his confused friends.
"Calm down! Everybody calm down! Now!" Jordao bellowed, bringing silence back in the house. All the attention was on him now. "There's no reason to panic; a fuse must just have blown. I'm gonna go check it behind the house and see if I can fix it. Until then, I want all of you to stay calm and avoid moving as much as possible until the lights come back, understood?"
CLANG!
All the eyes and Jordao's flashlight turned. Pieces of glass were scattered across the floor, and the wind now had a way to enter the house. It was at this moment that all the Spix's macaws felt a shift in the atmosphere. The air became cold, very cold, with the wind blowing in an incomprehensible pattern. For some reason, the heartbeats of everybody present started accelerating, sweat forming on their skin. It was as if they were feeling in... harm's way.
"OUCH!" Jordao used his flashlight to illuminate the girl who just yelled. "Something clawed me!" Her facial features twisted in pain, she clutched her leg, eventually rising her wing up. It was red. It was at this moment that everybody present in the house realized the terrifying truth.
They were not alone.
Jordao turned his flashlight in every direction, trying to understand what was going on. Little shadows were running between the birds' legs, too fast for Jordao to catch a glimpse of their nature. Tristan jumped over his musical equipment, staggering when clawing marks appeared on his shoulder. His beak opened, but the yells of pain were drowned by the sounds of chaos erupting all around.
Panicked avians rushed all around and bumped into one another. Jordao was thrown into so many directions at once, he felt like vomiting. "Isabel!" he yelled, trying to find his girlfriend in this chaos. His back suddenly irrupted in fire, and he found himself face first on the hard floor. "Isabel! Cody!" Sandros crashed into a party table, sending cakes, macarons and bottles flying in the air. The bowl of fruit punch was flung over, its content spilled and sliding across the floor.
Branca slipped on the red puddle and fell on her back, yelling as her hip must have been broken by the impact. The little figures all jumped on her, their little hands sharp like knives going up and down. Joaquim struggled as one of the little things gripped on his shoulder, the Spix's macaw's blue neck turning red. Tristan met everything he could see, invaders and birds, with his fists. He could no longer distinguish one from the other, his survival instincts being on full control.
Jordao's flashlight span at an elevated speed across the floor, like a disco ball. Trying to ignore the burning pain in his back, he crawled after his precious source of light. On his way, he saw Tristan smacking a bottle into the face of a shadow before collapsing to his knees. When the flashlight finally came to a stop, the light illuminated the one object Jordao wanted to see more than anything else at this moment: his sledgehammer.
Not wasting a second, Jordao kicked to his feet and grabbed the wooden handle of his trusty tool. He smacked the first figure that jumped at him with the head of his sledgehammer, squashing it like a pancake. In the far back of the room, Cody jumped through a window, many shadows on his heels. Rising his sledgehammer, Jordao used it to sweep all the little figures coming his way, like a broom cleaning dust.
During his fight for survival, Jordao realized that the screams and movements of panic had stopped. Tens of little golden globes were glimmering in the dark, like the eyes of predators stalking their prey... and Jordao was this prey! But he refused to go down and took them down five by five with his sledgehammer. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins at full power, his heartbeat reaching to his shoulders and his feathers becoming all wet.
After an eternity of swinging his sledgehammer around, the little creatures were all gone. Jordao could finally catch the breath he had been holding back for so long. His wings and shoulders were aching, the fatigue from the fall of adrenaline settling in. He almost sat down to rest when a thought crossed his mind: "The others! Isabel!"
Jordao immediately dropped his sledgehammer on the floor and reached for his flashlight. He hesitantly rose it up, fearing what its light would reveal to him. His friends were lying everywhere across the house, their bodies covered in clawing marks. Jordao stared at their wide open grey eyes, void of any expression, and their beak half-open, revealing surprise and fear. The flashlight trembled into Jordao's grip. Were they... No! Impossible! They were just unconscious; he needed to call for help right now!
Jordao turned around, ready to leave his home and search for the closest help available... when he saw her. She was lying in the middle of the bodies, the flame behind her blue eyes turned off... Three little holes in the middle of her stomach... Her face as pale as a ghost...
The flashlight slipped from his grip and fell on the floor with a loud thud, but its light kept illuminating her figure. Jordao advanced with heavy steps, soon collapsing next to her figure as his legs became too weak to carry his weight. He reached a trembling wing to touch her face. So cold...
"I-Isabel?" he mumbled no louder than a whisper. "Bel...? Bel, wake up... Please, we have to get out of here... All the others are unconscious... They need our help... Bel, please, wake up! Wake up...! Wake... up..."
Jordao found himself unable to say anything else. His vision soon became blurred and rivers started falling below his eyes, burning as they were. With his wing still touching the face of his face beloved one, Jordao's body became still, dead on the inside. He did not react when something started climbing up his back. Nor did he react when six little sharp things entered his neck...