As a boy ‘Bird’ had often walked this path with his father. He remembered a day, then as now, when the late summer sun pierced the canopy of the forest. Shafts of light shone through the foliage to the ground. It was as if celestial beams were being blasted down from the heavens. There was a thin band of hazy blue essence where the moisture of the forest met the heat of the sun. It hung before him heavy as an airship. When he’d first encountered this phenomenon he’d asked his father.

‘Is it light from heaven Dad?’ Bird’s father, six feet tall, a face cut from granite and a voice like boots on a gravel path, looked up.

‘No son,’ he chuckled: ‘it’s a sign that’s all, a sign that something good is going to happen.’ In his youth this explanation had seemed totally believable. His father had been a formidable individual who oozed confidence. But now, as a young man he was on edge. After three days alone in the woods this natural lightshow unsettled him. Bird had read about extraterrestrial encounters and he was certain he didn’t want one of those. He felt jumpy and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. His stocky body tensed from his toes up culminating in a tic over his right eye. He let out an involuntary whistle under his breath, it was a familiar trait of his and how he’d got his nickname.

‘Come on now Birdy’ the ‘r’ rolled with his Nova Scotian accent, ‘there ain’t nothing here you’se not seen before.’ Bird felt better for hearing a voice, even if it was his own. He took a firmer grip on his hunting rifle and pressed on towards the shafts of light. The mossy forest floor gave beneath his steady tread until he came to a halt. A magical calm framed the moment and he felt more at ease. Bird relaxed his arms and his rifle hung limply at the ends of them. The weight of it stretched the joints of his wrists and elbows. The sun was bright and he squinted hard to counter it. As he became accustomed to the light he realised he was no longer alone and the hairs rose on the back of his neck. Two deep, black, unblinking eyes peered at him. A split second later the calm was shattered as Bird let out a sudden cry.