I don't remember anyone standing behind me but he's right there when I open the camera app and flick the view around to see myself, to see him standing nearby - a silhouetted man-shape swaying in a wind that I couldn't feel. A silhouette that catches birds with his bare hands and stuffs them into a mouth overfilled with teeth.
The sound he makes when eating isn't something you could ever forget. The cacophony of agonised shrieks from the birds, his low hum of satisfaction and the whirring and chirring of the jaws inside his jaws slowly shredding the poor thing with every wet gulp of his throat.
I don't think he means me any harm but if he did I know I wouldn't stand a chance. Something about the perfect absence of eyes on his pallid face brings me comfort. Like a worn teddy-bear, he's missing pieces but he's familiar and he's a constant in my life right when I need a little consistency.
Amid the stress of building a work portfolio, minimum wage jobs to make rent and taking care of my family - he's a steady presence that never needs anything from me, never asks me for money or yells at me for forgetting something among the millions of things I need to remember.
If it weren't for the whole "brutal bird deaths" thing, I think we could even be friends.
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