"Psst! It's here…where are you both heading to?" Kili asked, flapping his translucent, frail wings to hold himself steady in the warm and humid air. "It's this way."
His brother and cousin, Ikpo and Moni, halted midair and turned to fly towards Kili. "I smell something sweet in that direction to the other room. I assume that's where we are heading to," Ikpo explained.
The flapping of wings continued. Kili shook his tiny head. "No, no. I know that room but there's no way to get to the food there, believe me. The food is hidden under a dangerous net. I tried last night and almost died. But here…," Kili motioned towards a wooden door. "Can you smell it?"
Ikpo and Moni beat their wings and flew upwards to a slight opening where the door connected with the concrete building. Kili joined them.
"You tell the truth, cousin," Moni remarked, his tiny nose twitching. "The food here smells great. We have found a good source of meal for the next few days."
"I agree," Ikpo said.
"Should we go rally the others?" Moni asked, looking to Kili for directions.
"That would not be wise," Ikpo said quickly. "Let's taste the food first. If it's safe to eat, then we bring the others."
"Good thinking," Kili said as his wings shimmered, displaying that a lamp in the room was just turned on.
"What's that?" Ikpo whispered. "I think the human is awake."
"Quick, brothers. Let's find a hiding spot." Kili flew with his brothers through the slight opening and silently stuck to the wall in a dark corner beside the bed where the amber light from the lamp did not touch.
They watched as a giant man with a moustache and beard, half-naked, wearing boxer shorts to cover his lower body sat up on his bed. He groaned, wiped his eyes and trudged into the en suite bathroom. The bright light from the bathroom flooded the semi dark room.
"Move! Fast," Kili whispered and they flew away to a darker corner, waiting for the giant man to come out of the bathroom.
A few minutes later, the giant man came out and lay down on the bed. He turned off the light and drew his blanket to cover his chest, leaving his naked shoulders exposed.
"Yes!" Moni remarked. "We can feed from the shoulders. He does smell good."
"Come on then," Kili said. Ikpo's wing brushed his as they hovered over the giant man's shoulder area. "Moni, sing to him while we feed."
"Why me? I sang yesterday, you know. Ikpo should do the singing this time around!"
Kili glanced at Ikpo who frowned back. "Okay! But be fast because I'm hungry as well."
Kili and Moni descended and dropped on the giant man's arms covered with curly, black hair. Ikpo maintained his hover beside the man and began to sing in a shrill voice, fluttering around the ear.
A big, heavy hand rose like a flash and hit the ear area, smashing Ikpo into a pulp. Kili and Moni shrieked and flew up.
"He killed Ikpo!" Moni screamed.
"Look!" Kili yelled too, pointing to the giant man who sat up and aimed at them.
The mosquitoes couldn't fly fast enough as the giant man cornered them into his hand area and clapped his hands together. The rush of the air pushed Kili out of the palm area.
The giant man opened his hand and saw a dark smudge mixed with a tinge of red on his palm. In a blink, something flew past his eyes and disappeared into the air.
Kili fluttered his wings as fast as he could and flew out of the room. He returned to his family outside the room.
He relayed the tale of how he narrowly escaped death by a hair's breadth.
He was back to regroup with his other cousins and try again. The food was too delicious to let go. The others agreed.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. This freewrite is inspired by the prompt "murmur of conversation". Join the Freewriters community to receive daily prompts, hosted by 