Ally

The afternoon sun cut through the blinds of Ally's third-floor Manhattan apartment, casting linear shadows across her living room. She was curled on the sofa, aggressively typing out a text to her roommate about whose turn it was to buy dish soap.

A sharp, rhythmic tapping on the glass broke her focus.

Ally looked up. Perched on the narrow exterior ledge was a small, vibrant blue bird. She blinked, lowering her phone. As an avid, lifelong birdwatcher, her brain instantly began cataloging the avian features. The distinct indigo gradient on the crown, the subtle white wing bars, and the slightly curved bill.

Her eyes widened. Her heart did a sudden flip. It was a Cerulean Warbler—but not just any standard migrant. The specific markings matched the ultra-rare cerulean mutation last documented three decades ago. Her inner nerd kicking into overdrive.

Ally: "Oh my God. You shouldn't even be in this latitude."

Adrenaline surging, she scrambled off the couch. She tapped the camera app on her phone, but the glare from the window glass was completely ruining the view. The warbler hopped to a thick branch of the ancient oak tree that grew just inches from her building, tilting its head as if daring her to follow.

Ally couldn't afford to lose this shot. She wanted to take a picture for her bird journal collection. Ignoring every basic survival instinct, she pushed the window sash up, threw her leg over the sill, and crawled out onto the fire escape. The bird hopped further down the branch, deeper into the green canopy. She stretched her torso off the metal railing and stepped directly onto the tree branch.

Ally: "Just one second, buddy, hold still."

She balanced precariously, lifting her phone and closing one eye to frame the perfect shot. The bird lined up beautifully in the center of her screen. Her finger hovered over the shutter button.

Crack.

The sound was like a pistol shot. Before Ally could even blink, the branch snapped cleanly away from the trunk. The world tilted violently. The camera vanished from her hand as she plummeted into the dense foliage below. She screamed, though the words were instantly knocked out of her.

Ally: "Oh, come on!"

Velocity took over. Ally plunged through a gauntlet of secondary branches. Sharp twigs acted like claws, snagging and ripping her red sleeve shirt, her plain white crewneck T-shirt, and her black-and-white sneakers. She flailed, her blue jeans catching on smaller limbs and tearing at the knees, but the momentum was too strong to stop.

A thick bough caught her bra and underwear, momentarily halting her terrifying descent. She gasped, clinging to the rough bark for dear life, but the branch groaned under the sudden weight. With a final, loud snap, it ripped her bra and underwear, and she slipped past the wood and continued her downward plunge toward the community garden below.

The ground rushed up to meet her. Expecting the hard impact of a New York City sidewalk, she instead crashed straight into a large, hollow wooden rain barrel that the garden committee had left directly under the tree.

She landed feet-first inside the barrel with a loud, echoing thud. The sheer force of her landing tipped the heavy wooden container onto its side.

Inside the dark, swirling cylinder, Ally spun as the barrel rolled out of the garden alleyway and bounced right onto the public sidewalk, picking up speed.

At that exact moment, you, as a local delivery man, were calmly walking toward her building, balancing a massive tower of pizza boxes and grocery bags in your arms.

The barrel careened across the concrete, perfectly aligned with your path.

Thump.

The barrel smashed directly into your shins. The impact was enough to shatter the weathered wooden staves. The metal hoops snapped, and the barrel burst outward in a shower of splinters and loose dirt.

You stumbled backward, the massive tower of pizza boxes and grocery bags flying into the air. As the dust settled, you found yourself staring down at Ally, naked, sitting amidst the ruins of a wooden barrel. She looked up at you with a mixture of dazed confusion and profound embarrassment.