Back in the office, the place was left a mess; boxes everywhere, papers unsorted, wine bottles all over the floor, some opened, some saved for later. The only thing that seemed neatly placed with intention, was the bright red phone on the desk.

“Well, that was a disaster.” A raspy voice came from the receiver, while a shadow figure stood leaning against the desk, staring at the snoring heron, all cooped up in the corner of the room with his dusty and stained nest. “Are you sure you want to continue with this?” The same voice let out a noticeable sigh, seeming frustrated with the current state of everything. “At this rate he is never going to finish this investigation and put his mind at ease. He is so in denial that I see no escape from this limbo.” She turned her head to face the doctor.  “And there’s no shame in having someone else take over the mission, you know?” 

“No, sooner or later he will snap out of this. He trusts me, and I am going to get him out.” Red spoke up, her voice coming from the phone as well, and her shadow was standing by the window, looking down at the sleeping detective.. “I-I will try to steer him back towards his family more, maybe get him away from the case.”

There was a few seconds of silence before the other shadow spoke up again to the doctor. “Alright then.” She said as she pushed herself up from the table and proceeded to walk off, her shadow faded as she left the conversation. 

“I wish you the best of luck next time…” The therapist said as her shadow placed its hand on top of the desk. “See you soon, Lyam.”As she departed, the figure walked over to the radio and twisted its front knob, changing its frequency to the local news.

New Twine City, where else would you want to be? It is a relaxing rainy morning, with more to come throughout the day. I’d bet that old laundromat would have wished for rain like this during that fire last month. Thankfully no one got hurt. I’ve heard they are back open for business, so that is great for the community! In other news, we have an interview coming up with the lovely Maggie Berrybush. They had just debuted at a new club downtown, The Ruffled Feathers. Stay tuned, and we hope you have an im-peck-able morning here at The Daily Roost radio!

The heron had awakened hearing the message play out from the radio, turning it off with a click. Slowly he stood up, stretching from the uncomfortable sleeping position, gazing around the office that he now will have to call ‘home’. Cardboard boxes littered the area, unpacked and cluttering the office space. The only item carefully placed since his arrival was a red phone that sat on his desk. Lyam’s attention turned to the window in his office that gazed over the city. He let out a sigh peering over the sea of birds below him. 

Suddenly a ringing sound echoed throughout the office, startling the heron as he scrambled to quickly pick it up, knocking the boxes out of the way as he did. “Hello! Heron Time Detective Agency, how may I help you?”