This story was written for submission to 
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine on August 27, 1992 for the Mysterious Photograph Contest.
The photo is at the bottom of the page.

The Vital Organ

The bird was right where Sanducci had said it would be. It was kind of a pretty thing, but not pretty enough to keep me from my prize. I had worked too hard. The crane's wings were stronger than I expected, but I managed to get it to a thoughtfully provided fisherman's cleaning table. No fisherman ever made a catch like this one: inside MY catch were four lovely diamonds, each as big as a fifty-cent piece..

I cut the bird's head and neck off, tossing it aside, then sliced through the feathered breast. Thrusting my hand into the still-warm cavity, I removed the vital organ. Nothing! My rage boiled over. I threw the useless carcass on the ground. Hands still bloody, I checked the number of rounds in my gun. Satisfied, I went after Sanducci. No one makes a fool of Big Al!

The little girl spotted the the dead crane first and ran to it, eyes brimming with tears at the bloody, broken bird. She walked to the severed head, lifting it gently. She turned, crying, to her mother, lifting the head high for her to see. The long neck nearly touched the ground.

"Look, momma, someone cut up the pretty bird!" Her mother spoke gently to the girl, calming her. She took the crane's head from unresisting little fingers, and in her motherly concern never saw the four glittering rocks that slid out of the crane's long, graceful neck.


Copyright 1992, J Montgomery

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