The spirit of a dead poet sits in the seat beside Soren Moon, sipping whiskey and smoking a cigarette, his withered fingers picking up the shriveled stick before he sucks down the cancer like it's his lifeline. 

"Imagine a dumbass kid who turns into a bird and can fly where he wants and do whatever he wants," Bukowski exhales in his sluggish, sandpaper voice, "and he wastes his life shuffling around in the dirt with a bunch of bipeds until he dies." 

Soren glances down at himself and realizes that when the minivan crashed into the cow field, he'd become an owl in his panic. He flaps his wings in alarm and lets out a cry, only to hear a very human voice filter out perfectly instead. "What is this?" He asks the poet, "Did I die?"

"Nah, gotta leave some words behind first," Charles replies, and he takes a sip of whiskey and stares out at the field when a black and white cow walks by, "You're an easygoing guy, aren't you?" He asks Soren, "People like to use people like you. They walk all over you as soon as you give em' an inch. You shouldn't take it. Lydia? She's a cunt, Birdy. They all are." 

"I don't understand," Soren replies, his voice a whisper, "Why are you telling me all this?"

"You gotta let yourself fly, my friend," Charles replies, and then the sound of tires squealing and doors slamming filters in from outside, "You gotta make this shitty life mean something and go after what you want. If it's dull as shit, it doesn't mean anything. Please, for fucks sake, listen to the dead poet talking to you."

"Grab the little shits!" Ethan's voice suddenly screams, "Don't touch the bald one, he's mine!"

"Here we go," Bukowski smiles almost gleefully, "time to fly."

The doors to the minivan fly open, and Soren snaps back into consciousness--still very much human. Angry shouting soon filters in when Ethan and his buddies start pulling Soren and his brothers out of the car. Rowan had blood running from the top of his bald head down one side of his face and was baring his teeth like a wild animal.

"You want some of this?" Rowan screams, grinning savagely when they pull him out to kneel in front of Ethan's truck, "Come and get it, pigs!"

"Shut the fuck up!" One of the boys snarls, and quickly stamps Rowan into submission, earning a pained snarl in response when he knocks him down into the dirt.

"Rowan!" Soren yells, and his door is yanked open, Clive Walker's hideous face staring back at him, before the boy grabs a handful of his hair and yanks him out of the minivan and into the cow pasture, which was damp with a light rain that had begun to fall.

"Well, look who we have here, boys!" Ethan sneers, and he steps into view, rubbing his hands together, "Two losers for the price of one!"

Clive Walker throws Soren down next to Rowan, who was laying on his side, holding his shoulder, and glaring as if he wanted to set fire to the whole field with his eyes alone. Unfortunately, there were only two of them, and Ethan had at least four friends, including Clive Walker and Ari Shapiro, who looked like he played golf on the weekends and vacationed in Rome with his parents every summer.

"I know why you stole my stuff, Moon," Ethan crouches down in front of Rowan, "Coming from a poor family that's broke as shit all the time? You must be dying for a new pair of shoes that don't smell like a dumpster. In fact, I heard your mommy fucked a couple of guys in town for money once, and that's where all you came from. Think she'd blow me if I asked her to?"

"Don't talk about my mom like that! I'll bite your face off!" Rowan screams and lunges at Ethan, only to have Clive grab him by the arms and hold him back while he struggles.

"Ethan, man," Ari pipes up from behind him, "can we cut this short? I have plans. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow."

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Shapiro!" Ethan spits at him, and he stands up, "I already told you, I want to teach these guys a lesson!" 

Soren starts to hear a nearby herd of cows mooing frantically, and he lifts his head, turning to look into the darkness where the frantic herd was moving towards them. It wasn't that strange considering they were parked in the middle of a pasture about to be beaten to death. What was weird, though, was the fact that a lone figure stood in the middle of them, his arms outstretched as if he was some kind of bovine savior. 

"The hills are alive with the sound of music!" Rocky sings like Tina Turner, his head shaking.

"Who the fuck is that?" Ethan demands, and he straightens up in time to see Rocky begin to dance dramatically, thrusting his hips and waving his arms. 

"I think that's one of the Moon brothers, man!" Clive pipes up, "What a freak!" He starts to laugh up until Rowan raises a hand, sharp black talons popping out before he sinks them into the boy's arm, ripping right through his flesh with the wrath of a rabid owl. Howling, Clive's suddenly tumbling to the ground with Rowan on top of him, swinging his fists. 

"Attack!" Rocky screams, pointing at Ethan and Ari, "Attack my beefy children!"

Cows explode across the field and rush toward Ari, and Ethan, who shriek in terror and begin to run, looking back over their shoulders as they go. 

"Rowan!" Soren shouts, and he scrambles over to his younger brother, who was still on top of Clive, beating his face in. "Come on! Let's get out of here!" Soren yanks him off, and Rowan shrieks in anger, his legs kicking before he spots the cows barreling over. 

"Oh, shit!" Rowan barely gets the words out before he and Soren fall under the stampede.