Дмитрий Мансуров - Invasion

“Breakfast! Hurray! I actually lived long enough to get one!” the fox exclaimed happily, but then another sparrow dropped nearby. And another one. The puzzled fox raised her head, and her eyes turned into saucers. The oak was bombarding her with unconscious sparrows. “An epidemic!” she exclaimed hoarsely, breaking into a frantic run. “To hell with you, I don’t want to be infected!”

The bully-sparrow watched in amazement as half of the other birds fell in a single motion while the rest of them went wild right before his eyes.

“Zombie, you say?” the leader asked. However, he was clearly not expecting an answer. “How about you take off your mask?”

The sparrow’s sixth sense let him know that he shouldn’t expect gratitude for his creative joke.

“Are you crazy?” he muttered, scared. “Calm down! I’m just joking! Everyone, relax and disperse!”

“Oh, we’ll disperse all right,” the leader promised him. “Grab him, guys!!!”

The bully jumped back, flapped his wings wildly and took off. The pack rushed after him with violent chirps.

The fox’s unfinished trap worked, but the fox herself was too far away to hear the boar’s satisfied chomping. However, quite unexpectedly, she found something just as good.

The crow pulled the cheese out of its hiding place, put it in front of her and stilled, enjoying the wonderful, maddening smell emanating from it. She wanted to enjoy this unexpected gift as much as possible.

“Cheese!” she sang, and the nearest neighbors grimaced at the creaking sound. “Yum-yum!”

“What was that? Yum-yum?” the fox echoed unwittingly, stopping and looking up at the crow. “Oh, cheese! Yum-yum indeed!”

The crow saw the fox and held the cheese tightly in her beak. Fox walked around the tree, observing it. It was impossible to climb as the branches were too high. Rightfully considering herself an expert in climbing trees, the fox knew that without the help of the ferocious barking of a dog chasing her, she’d never get to the top. And there was no dog. This was a good thing. Or rather, a bad one. Well, it depended on the side from which you approached this issue. But what could she do now?

There was a rapidly growing noise, and a moment later, a sparrow with a skull on his head dashed under the nose of a crow at a cosmic speed. She shrank on the branch, startled. After the first sparrow, a huge bunch flew by in fury, eliminating all the obstacles that could be eliminated on their path. The crow closed her eyes in horror, and when she opened them again, she found that she was covered in fallen leaves up to her head.

She tried to touch the cheese with her wing but found nothing but a microscopic piece that was still left in her beak. Everything inside her went cold. She scattered the leaves, still hopeful. But there was nothing, so she shouted in despair, “Caaaaw!”

“Yum!” an enthusiastic sound came from the ground. The crow choked and looked there. The fox. She was chewing something. She looked so happy with herself! What was she eating anyway? The crow took a closer look. Two small gnats that had fallen into the crow’s nest during the disaster felt terribly cold, so they hurried to get out before they froze completely.

“Cheese!” The crow’s despair knew no bounds.

“Yeah!” the fox nodded happily. “It’s sooo delicious! Thanks for the treat, crow! And, well, don’t be too angry with me. You just got unlucky. It happens to everyone.”

The fox picked up the rest of the cheese, waved her tail goodbye, and disappeared from the crow’s sight. The crow spat after her grimly.

“I hope you burst!” she grumbled.

“Foxes do not burst. They take the form of a sphere,” a response came from somewhere.

“Whatever! Got it?” the crow cawed. Then she frowned and fell silent.

“What genius told me he has the situation under control?” Artem looked at Yaroslav questioningly before glancing down. An angry bear was there, standing under the birch. “Do you remember saying this?”

“Nope!” Yaroslav responded, cautiously squinting at the nest of wasps that was hanging an inch to the left from their temporary shelter. “But if I did say it, I did so without thinking.”

“I’m glad we are on the same page about this. Next time, please be so kind not to bother the inhabitants of the forest for no reason. Because if you do, the horses won’t be the only thing we’ll lose here.”

“How was I supposed to know the horses would leave? “ Yaroslav was indignant. “I turned my back for just a minute! I look, and instead of them, there are two bridled goats!”

“And the third goat standing right before them,” Artem uttered pointedly, prompting Yaroslav to respond with a rude gesture.

“Don’t make me hit you,” he warned. “Or you’ll have to forget about ever riding a horse again and learn how to jump rope instead!”

Artem stuck out his tongue.

“How did it even occur to you to enrage the bear?” he continued calmly. “And to run from it by climbing a tree where wasps live!”

“I thought some horse thieves were hiding in the bushes,” Yaroslav tried to explain.

“Yeah, and there were goat thieves there instead,” Artem quipped.

The bear began to climb the tree.

Yaroslav whispered to his brother, “Don’t ever do that again!” Carefully, he grasped the nest, and with all the precautions he could muster, separated it from the tree. “And here is a gift to our dear guest!”

The nest flew right at the bear. A part of the nest began to swarm around discontentedly, and on top of that, a sparrow wearing a skull flew next to Yaroslav.

“Sparrow’s Death!” the prince gasped. “What creatures you get a chance to see in this middle of nowhere!”

The wasps had already noticed the princes and almost flew to attack them when suddenly, a crowd of sparrows swept past them like a hurricane. The men and the bear were blown off the tree, and they went crashing down, breaking the branches on their way to the ground. The bear fell first, and the princes landed on it. They jumped up as quick as they could, beginning to run faster than the sparrow pack. The bear, the buzzing wasps, and a troubled flock of birds growled behind them in annoyance. The princes raced forward until the noise of the animal world subsided and became distant.

“Enough!” Yaroslav exhaled wearily. Artem stumbled on the level ground in agreement and fell on the grass. “We need to take a break for a bit.”

Artem leaned back against the tree, feeling that the mentioned time wouldn’t be enough for him. Why were there so many troubles surrounding them? One after another, or even overlapping.

“Excuse me, could you help me find my basket?” a voice came from the forest. The princes turned and saw a girl with a goat. All three of them flinched. The princes from surprise and Alena from seeing the mark of a neighboring state on their clothing. That meant these were no ordinary people standing in front of her.

A small silence engulfed them.

“A basket?” Artem asked again. He couldn’t believe that such beautiful girls even existed in this world. “What kind of basket?”

“With berries. I was picking them, but someone took the basket from me.”

“The bears, perhaps,” Artem suggested. “We’ve just met them.”

“Where?” Alena was surprised.

“Near the curved river.”

“But that’s two hours away from here!” Alena exclaimed.

The princes looked at each other.

“For how long have we been running?” Yaroslav asked. “About ten minutes?”

“Less.”

“So who are you, speedy people?” Alena asked. The goat at her feet jumped cheerfully and then fearlessly approached Artem.