THE MOMENT
“How the hell do you accidentally kill a phoenix of all creatures?!” Buster asked with a giggle. Jed was always coming up with wild stories, half of which were only half-true, but they were always entertaining. The two farmhands were enjoying their lunch break in the shade of an enormous oak tree while the animals grazed nearby.
“On accident,” Jed shrugged with a chuckle. “It was before you started,” he added. The best stories happened before Buster started working at the farm; either that, or it was easier to lie about things he wouldn’t know about. He wasn’t a fool and knew that either possibility was just as likely for every story, but that’s what made it so fun.
“I was out mending the North fence, and I really got into the zone, you know?” Jed asked, and Buster nodded. He’d already learned how easily Jed slipped into ‘the zone’. The first few months he started, he thought the older man was ignoring him daily until they had a chat about it. Whenever Jed concentrated, the world seemed to disappear for him. “So, there I was. Prop the nail…,” he mimed holding a nail with one hand, then lifting his other upward. “Then, *whack*,” he brought his other hand down hard.
“Prop the nail,” he repeated the lifting motion quicker. “*whack*,” he brought his hand down harder, and then, repeated it all a third for good measure. “Prop the nail,” he lifted his arm fast and with force. “*whack*,” he slammed his hand down.
“But.. the phoenix…,” Buster wasn’t sure where the story was going, and he wanted to get back on topic. He wanted to know how his buddy murdered the one animal known most for its longevity, and as much as he liked Jed’s stories, he did ramble sometimes.
“Prop the nail up…,” Jed smirked as he made the gesture. This time, his hand flew up with the full speed of someone trying to hammer something. “...*SQUAWK*” he laughed. “Damn thing flew right into the hammerclaw,” he chuckled. “A complete and total accident. I think it was friendly and comfortable around humans to be getting that close to me,” Jed said. “So, it was one of ours and not a wild one.”
“Did you get in trouble?” Buster asked. As new as he was, he often worried about doing the wrong thing or mishandling their animals. The fact that Jed was still working there even after killing one of the livestock gave him hope.
“Trouble? Nah,” Jed chuckled. “Bird’s fine… though, he spends most of his time indoors now, and definitely doesn’t like me,” he laughed harder.
“Fine? You said you killed it!” Buster said. “And, I still don’t even know how you did that! I’m not asking about the mechanics of the murder, I want to know how you managed to kill an immortal bird!” With assurance that the bird was fine, Buster was mostly caught up in how Jed presented the story. He'd never outright lied before.
“Immortal? I think your lore is a little confused there,” Jed smirked. “A phoenix’s whole thing is ‘dying’. Saying I ‘killed it’ is like telling you I got a fish wet. Speaking of, that’s another one. Did I ever tell you about that time I almost drowned a mermaid?”