Okay, Polly Want should be done by the weekend and may be done by today. I kind of want to get it finished up so I can get the others squared away. I think it’s been improved significantly, too.
From “Polly Want:”
Kuiz was still breathing, but there was nothing left behind his eyes anymore except pain and fear. Blid envied him. He was going to die knowing what was happening to him.
The two of them had come to the greenspace just at dusk, equipped to capture or kill the [parrot]: Blid had gotten the impression that Kuiz was half-hoping for an excuse to do the latter, and he had every intention of giving Kuiz that excuse. They were fairly-well equipped, too: plastic face shields and arm protection, bag-traps and goalball bats, and even goggles for night vision. That all seemed reasonable at the time, or even a bit overkill. But better to not need it and have it than need it and not have it.
It was just that the [parrot] moved so damnably fast. The [feathers] weren’t strong enough to break bones, but the first pass had sliced off Blid’s armguard, and the second had gutted Kuiz before he could react. Then the [parrot] had calmly perched on top of a tree, seemingly just to watch Kuiz die.