A New York Debut Novel

D O N A L D B R E C K E N R I D G E

Novel Excerpt

from
6/2/95

On the street below her open window the car alarm stopped as abruptly as it had started five minutes ago. She gently rubbed the head of his penis back and forth on her swollen clitoris. The sparse downy feathers clung to the trembling wings of the hatchling that had just pecked its way out of a light blue egg. She looked intently at his face. The hatchling could not see anything except the faint outline of its mother's yellow beak. "There we are," she whispered. The nest was made of twigs, strands of hair, spent matches, bits of newspaper and pine needles. She placed his erect penis inside her with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. The hatchling raised its trembling head and began to call feebly. A gray squirrel darted up the trunk of the oak tree that the nest sat in. The mother lit on the side of the nest with a worm dangling limply between its yellow beak. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders, leaving small indentations. The mother raised her head, opened her beak and swallowed the worm. On the street below her open window, a black man wearing a black suit, white dress shirt, red tie and black patent leather shoes with silver buckles on them was dialing a number on his cellular phone. He slid deeper into her as she pushed herself onto his lap. A small piece of feather that emerged from one of her pillows was spiraling in the stillness of the room above them. They shuddered in unison as he slowly ground himself deeper into her. The mother thrust her beak into the hatchling's and forced the regurgitated worm down its throat. The squirrel ran back down the trunk of the oak tree in pursuit of another squirrel it had taken by surprise. He placed both of his hands on her nipples and twisted them gently with the tips of his fingers. A large bluebottle fly dove into her screen repeatedly. The hatchling swallowed the worm and immediately opened its beak. She leaned into his body and bit him on his chin as he began to moan. The ground under the oak tree was still soft from last night's rain.

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