The Birds: Alternate Extended Ending

A Story by Alex Thomas

An alternate extended ending for The Birds by Daphne du Maurier

His wife watched as he puffed on the cigarette. They both knew this was their last night. They had run out of boards to put on the windows and even if Nat could put the barbed wire on the windows, that would only hold them off for so long. There was nothing they could do to stop the birds from getting in. There were too many of them, and they were far too savage to fight off.
The two of them watched Johnny play, unaware of what was going to happen. Jill sat in her mother’s lap and cried. She could sense her parents’ fear and worry and that scared her. Her parents were never afraid.
“Daddy, what’s going to happen to us?” Jill asked in fear.
“Everything is going to be just fine. The birds will stop soon.” Nat said. You could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
“But what about us? What if the birds get in?”
“The birds won’t get in dear. Don’t worry.” Nat’s wife said. She rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.
Eventually, the sound of the birds grew fainter and fainter. Nat waited a few minutes, just be sure they were gone, before going outside to but the wire on the windows. He had to work quickly and diligently. He couldn’t waste the wire, but working in the dark was going to make it hard. He had premeasured the wire so there would be enough for each window and door.
Working nonstop from nine to three, Nat put the barbed wire over each window and door. He was hoping it would be enough to keep the birds away until the next day when they could go out and collect more items to help improve their chances of survival.
He came back inside with less than an hour until the birds would return. He was hoping and praying that the barbed wire would be enough. And it was… at first.
For about an hour, the family listened to birds falling on the ground after being injured by the wire. Things were quieter than usual, seeing as the birds couldn’t get to the windows or doors. But eventually, they started to hear tapping again. It was quiet at first, but it slowly progressed to a forte. The birds had gotten the barbed wire off.
They could clearly hear the wood over the windows splintering and the birds tapped and tapped and tapped. Nat had never been more afraid in his life; not even when he was in the war.
He and his wife stood up the mattresses and moved them so that they would have a hut-like structure. The children sat together under the mattresses with blankets wrapped around them, just waiting for the birds to come in. Nat and his wife got everything they could to help fight off the birds and protect their kids. They covered up as much of themselves as possible so that they would get any serious injuries. They covered their bodies with layers of clothes, protected their heads with blankets and put thick gloves on their hands.
Slowly, the boards broke. One at a time, they split in half and clattered on the floor. The birds squeezed their way through the opening and continued to break the boards.
They attacked immediately. Nat and his wife punched the birds, kicking them and stepping on them when they fell on the ground. They continued this for as long as they could, but the birds’ claws and beaks were tearing their clothes. They were starting to run out of energy, and their layers of protection grew smaller and smaller.
Nat’s wife, unable to continue any longer, dropped to the floor crying and let the birds have her. Nat, enraged, continued for as long as he could. One bird eventually got to his eyes. It clawed at then, but was unable to do much damage.
Nat heard his children’s screams and turned, still fighting the birds, to look at them, knowing that the birds had gotten to them. That’s when he gave up. He sat on the floor and let the birds have him. He was in agonizing pain and knew that in just a few minutes he would be dead.
He lay down and closed his eyes, the pain slowly disappearing as he felt his body become lighter…
Nat shot up in bed, covered in sweat. His wife was sitting next to him with a worried look on her face.
“Are you alright, dear?” she asked. Nat turned to his wife and touched her face gently.
“You’re okay,” he whispered.
“Of course I am.”
“But… the birds… they were here and they attacked us.”
“I think you might have had a bit too much to drink tonight.” She chuckled. “Go back to sleep. You’ll feel better.” She said. Nat started to argue back, but she stopped him and made him lay down.
“I swear, there were birds. There were hundreds of them. They were everywhere.”
“Whatever you say, love.” She kissed his forehead.
There was a tapping at the window so she got up to check it. But there was nothing except for a single black feather…