Fall 2021 Inklings

Executioner Goose
Chelsea Hoy
The best time to fight a goose is at the crack of dawn. Everybody knows that.
This is why, at approximately 5:30 in the morning every Saturday, hordes of
people shuffle into one of the largest stadiums in the nation.
As if programmed to do so, they stumble from the ticket booth positioned at
the entrance and trudge to the concession stand, wiping sleep from their eyes.
They stand in line, waiting to purchase bird-shaped breakfast delicacies like
sausages, bacon, and clumps of scrambled eggs. No one is entirely sure how
they get them to look like that. They are too afraid to ask.
To the side stands the souvenir shack. There, spectators can buy almost any
momento they can imagine. Autographed geese feet. Crowns made of dead
bird feathers. And the most coveted of all: Trading cards of the most infamous
Goose Gladiators and Gladiator Geese. Every Saturday, the most adamant of
fans line up hours before opening to get their hands on the rarest cards. Just
last week, a man stabbed another man over a shiny “Level 5.5 Goose Who
Disemboweled Alexei the Crane” card.
Once the audience has loaded their arms with as much memorabilia they
can manage, they move to their seats and stare with anxious eyes into the
colosseum pit below.
Today, no one can look away. For they know Aves the Fowl would be
clambering onto the field at any moment.
Deep underground, underneath the stomping feet of the eager audience, Aves
sits in the prep room, strapping metallic boots to his legs. Various weapons in
many lethal shapes and varieties hang on the oak wood walls. Curdled blood
and sweat cling to the air and sting at his nostrils. Ezra, the lanky storeroom
manager wearing a graphic t-shirt and khakis, sits next to him. He hums some
repetitive melody as he shines Aves’s chest plate in his lap with a well-worn
cloth. A golden crest gleams back at him. A grand goose, ancient and matted,
flaps its wings high in the sky. Ornate letters AGCD curve up from the bottom.
“I heard they’ve got a level 4 lined up for you today, sir,” Ezra says, his voice
surprisingly deep for a man of his stature.
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