Birdie

I am awakened by someone gripping my shoulders and shaking me gently. The pair of hands fall away and it takes me a moment to gather myself and focus. I squint so see the dim outline of Uncle Edwin standing next to my bed. I glance quickly to the window to find that no sunlight shines through the curtain. It must be the middle of the night. I rub my eyes, thinking to myself, He really is mad, isn't he?

"Is everything all right, Uncle?" I ask through a stifled yawn. A grin stretches across his lips.

"Better," he whispers excitedly. "Better than all right! I've done it! It is completed!"

"Completed?" I examine the older man's face. He seems outright happy and excited, though I cannot possibly imagine why. "What on earth are you talking about?"

He just closes his eyes, hard, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He lets out a sigh and waves his hand in front of him, opening his eyes once again. "Oh nevermind all that, just follow me!"

With an excited noise, he draws my covers back and gleeful rushes out of my room. I shake my head in soft laughter and quietly stand and take off after the man. I race down the stairwell as silently as my feet will allow and follow him out of the front door. His foots steps are muffled by the slick grass. Once I'm outside I wonder briefly if I am dreaming and pinch my own arm to test this theory. A shock of pain sounds through my arm and my conclusion has been reached. This is real. I gaze up above me. The black sky is softening, lightening. It is very early in the morning, the sun hasn't even risen yet.

I find my Uncle in the small fenced in area. He stands there, a big bulking object covered by a bed sheet rests next to him. Curiously, the mechanical fawn keeps its nose close to the ground as it tries to sniff the large object. With no luck of retrieving any smell at all, it gets discouraged and wanders to the other end of the area. I open the fence's door and stride over to my Uncle. He beams down at me, his pride clouding his green eyes.

He stays silent as he rips the sheet away from the clothed form, revealing yet another one of his magnificent mechimals. This one is larger, much larger than any actual living ox. Its torso is long and thick, made to withstand large amounts of weight and multiple riders or luggage. It also has thick legs that look very strong, manufactured to be able to pull heavy loads. Its head has been modeled precisely to look like that of a normal ox and it's horns are large but with dull points with safety in mind. It has been left unpainted but it seems eerily natural that way. I place my hand on the dull silver sheen of the metal body and stare into its granite like eyes in awe.

"Uncle, it is simply magnificent," I say breathlessly as I press my cheek against the ox's cold body. The slowly fading moonlight spills over the metal and only seems to illuminate it slightly. My Uncle raises on corner of his mouth into a smile and comes closer to join me. He absentmindedly strokes at its back, petting it as if it were a living animal.

"Lot of work, he was," he blushes, staring fondly at his creation. "I've worked night and day on the damned thing. I've had to move it twice- it got to big for my work shop and then again for the stables. I've spent the last half day or so finishing the beast. And now, after nearly two weeks of constant work, the ox is finished. I had intended to paint it, but I believe it looks better the way it is now."

"It turned out wonderful, really it did. It's sure to sell nicely to that farmer."

"It ought to. This ox can pull four times the weight of a normal ox, it can walk much faster. Its simplistic brain gears allow for easy guiding and it will follow basic commands. It can carry much more on its back, in addition to the pulling option. I've made living oxen obsolete." I smile big. I'm not completely sure how he can use gears to make a brain or to even make these creatures act the way they do- but then again, there are hundreds of things I don't understand in this world and that is just fine with me. I am proud of him and that is all that matters.

"You did a wonderful job," I tell him. I wrap on arm around his waist and rest my head against his chest. He gives my shoulder a firm yet loving squeeze before the two of us pull apart.

"I was going to present him to the farmer as soon as I finished, but seeing as it is so late, and I've really worked myself to the bone, I think it can wait until later today," the man standing before me reddens and smiles at me. His eyes are still cloudy with his pride but they lack the instability of his madness. It is a small bliss, but I take pleasure in the beauty of his stable eyes.

"Then why did you wake me up in the middle of the night?" I wonder with a quiet giggle. Uncle Edwin's smile only grows bigger.

"Well, I mean, you got me this opportunity and I thought you deserved to see the finished product. You deserve to be there when I take it to the farmer... Will you go with me tomorrow, when you return home from your classes?"

"Of course, Uncle," I reply. I reach out and softly run my hand along the mechimal's nose. Surprisingly, it blinks. It is not a huge surprise but it paints it a more realistic picture of the creature in my mind. I lean forward and gently kiss its snout, something I used to do with my horse back home. The metal beast lowers its head in what seems to be shyness. I glance back at my Uncle and then something occurs to me. "I don't understand something."

"What would that be, dear?"

I bite my lip, not truly sure why I am even questioning it. It isn't a huge deal at all, practically insignificant. Still, I like to have answers. "Why did you not wake Pierre instead? He actually assisted you on the project, and he's your apprentice."

"Well, yes," he says, his hand reaching to quietly play with the hair on his chin. In the short month and a half I've been here, it has grown a tad longer, hanging off his chin ever so slightly. "But he and I are not like you and I. He works alongside me, yes, but you and I actually bond when we speak. Therefore, I wanted to share this joyous moment with someone I care for. Someone I love."

Any words I may have thought I had prepared escape me. I am dumbstruck, absolutely shocked. I hadn't been expecting anything like that for awhile, if at all. He may be my Uncle, but I hadn't even met him until after my parents perished. How could he have come to love me so quickly? I smile though, because I know it doesn't matter. He had been right, when the two of us speak, we bond. We're kind to one another and perhaps, somewhere along the way I have come to love the man too. He has treated me as if I were his own child and I would like to think I treat him as I had treated my father.

I turn on my heel, tears already streaming out of my eyes. I wrap my arms tightly around my Uncle and I take his intake of breath as his surprise. It takes a second but his arms tighten around me and I smile into his chest. His hands rub my back and I let a few tears fall against his shirt. "I love you too."



After school, Pierre and I arrive home just in time to help Uncle Edwin put a large saddle upon the metal ox. Uncle and I seem to have an air about us, almost as if our whole relationship had changed. Our moment last night had changed us. Not in some grand way, but in a small way that was both pleasant and refreshing. His love for me had made me realize how much I love him, how much I care. After that moment last night, we are no longer an Uncle and his niece- we are a father and his daughter.

When we are getting ready to leave, Edwin clambers up onto his creation and Pierre helps me up. Sadly, the faery says he is going to stay behind. Secretly, I think he has sensed the new bond between us and wanted to give us time to ourselves. I give him a thankful look and before I know it, the ox has taken off toward town. Pierre and the manner falls back into the distance and tress have sprung up around us. I wrap my arms around my Uncle's waist and rest my head against his back as we ride.

As we approach the village, I perk up instantly. People must have spotted us back aways because many of the townsfolk now stand in the middle of the road, gazing onto us with open mouths. Wonder and curiosity is written all over their faces. As we ride into the beginning of town, we turn into the farm, only to have a large crowd of curious onlookers and bewildered children follow us onto the property.

I am not sure whether or not my Uncle has noticed the crowd. If he does, he shows no sign of it. He slides off of our steel steed and makes his way to the farmer's door. He knocks twice and waits a moment. The door slides open to reveal the man I'd met nearly two weeks ago. He wears a plain button down shirt and work trousers as well as work boots. His balding blond hair looks nearly white from years of working out in the sun. His brown eyes are soft and excited.

"You must be the infamous Edwin Silversmythe," says the farmer as he extends his arm to my Uncle. He takes his hand and shakes it, nodding in response. "You're niece promised me you could create a great alternative to my oxen, is that so?"

I can see that my Uncle wishes to be professional but his excitement is getting the better of him. A ghost of a smile plays at his lips. "Yes, that is correct." My Uncle steps away from the door, pushing his curly brown hair back with his hand. The man's eyes widen and he steps away from the door and wanders mindlessly to the iron beast. He places his palm against it, dragging it along the cool steel. His eyes glaze over the entire being, drinking in every aspect of it. He seems slightly reluctant but excited nonetheless.

"May I test it?" I asks, his words a hurried mess. His intrigue has become him. He has a sense of childlike joy and energy to him and it is quite comical to see on a man of his age. Uncle Edwin merely nods and helps lead the bull over to the farmer's cart- which holds his next shipment of cargo for Everstile. The farmer's own ox lifts its head from where it lays in the garden to examine its replacement. It stares for a minute before returning to its afternoon nap. With a giggle I hurry after the two. The pair have already gotten the metal ox hitched to the cart.

"Well, go on, get on up there and give it a whirl," Uncle Edwin instructs. The man laughs and clambers up onto his new pet. Once he's aboard, he uses his hands to feel the horns, the face, its snout. He sighs in satisfaction.

"Forward," he says, his head near the beast's ear. The ox makes a noise that can only be taken as mechanical and starts to move forward, pulling the cart with an elegant ease. Relief washes over the farmer. He tilts his head up and mouths some words to the sky. When he looks back down at us, he's grinning from ear to ear. "I'll take it."

I fall into the background as the two elders talked about expenses and the details of his new creature. I wandered through the crowd and caught snippets of their excited conversations. They are all completely shocked by my Uncle's inventions and several are talking about wanting one. Others wonder aloud what other animals he could make or if they could make their own. I found myself extremely ecstatic about all this. The success of most products in our world is because of the things that travel by word of mouth. If people like it, they tell others, and those tell more people- and so on and so forth.

Soon enough, the farm steers his ox onto the dirt road, giddy and ready to haul his load to Everstile. He glances down at me. "I am so glad you decided to stop by when you did," he laughs, bowing his head. I feel heat flood into my cheeks.

"Any time, sir," I curtsy to him. "Just be sure to tell your friends in Everstile where you got it! Help us get some business, all right?"

The man laughs and grins some more. "Of course, I'll tell all of those who ask. But, if you're lookin' to attract some more business, I'd present one of these gracious beauties," he says happily and rubs the side of the ox before continuing, "To King Avedin."

My mouth falls open slightly. He can't be possibly suggesting what I think he is, can he? King Avedin, King of the Human Kingdom and all of its inhabitants lives in the castle in Everstile. I have never seen the King, I have only ever heard stories of the man. The tales say he had once been a freedom fighter -a free-wheeling warrior who traveled the land and slaying enemies- against his father, King Lysander. When his father had died of old age, he had left his life of fighting to take his place at the throne. For nearly fifteen years he's ruled, though I've heard he's only a bit older than my Uncle. I have heard that he is not very kind, nor does anything keep his interest. However, if you can get his attention with your invention or whatever type of business you wish to present to him, you would be forever in His Majesty's favor.

"That would be nearly impossible- we'd never get a summons to see him," I say, my voice filled with dismay. I hang my head a little.

"You're a smart girl, you must be. You're Uncle is smart too," the farmer tells me. By now the townsfolk have returned to their own homes or other places throughout town, though many eyes still linger on the metal creature. Uncle Edwin has found a place at my side, putting a loving arm around my shoulder. Depressed, I lay my head against his chest. His fingers move calmly against my hair. "You'll figure something out. For you, nothing is impossible."

We exchange goodbyes with the farmer and start our walk home. He had been right, absolutely right. I am a smart girl. I hate sounding so cocky but it is the truth. I will figure something out. I lift my head and look toward the manor as we stroll. I am not quite sure how I will do it, but I will get an audience with King Avedin one way or another. I will exhaust all my resources if I have to.

I sigh in thought, shifting my head to look at Uncle Edwin. His eyes have slowly returned hazed and unfocused. I whimper, but he doesn't even spare a glance. I have lost him to the demons in his mind yet again. Inventing is one of the only things that brings him back from that dark place of his thoughts and its thrill has faded once again. That is why I want more business for him. He's happiest when he's working, he's more focused then as well- he's completely sane. Perhaps wanting him to work more is slightly wrong, but I love seeing him with a smile on his face.

Calmly, I stand on my tip-toes and place my lips on his cheek. It is rough with stubble but I don't mind. It would have been a sweet gesture but my Uncle does not seem phased in the slightest. I will come up with something, I tell myself. I will fix him.