Reluctantly, the locksmith pulled out a pair of heavy bolt cutters. With a loud snap, the brass lock gave way. Patricia shoved the boy aside, a triumphant, malicious grin spreading across her face. She pushed the heavy oak gate open and stepped triumphantly onto Marcus’s pristine lawn.
Patricia took exactly three steps into the yard before the trap was sprung.
From the edge of the koi pond, the alpha goose—a massive twenty-pound bird Marcus had affectionately named Maximus—raised his head. He let out a piercing, demonic hiss that sounded like a tire rapidly deflating. The three other geese immediately fell into a V-formation behind him.
Patricia froze. She had expected a dog, maybe a cat. She did not expect a synchronized squadron of furious, hissing dinosaurs.
Maximus didn't hesitate. He charged. His massive wings flared out, spanning over four feet, and his neck extended like a spear. The other three geese followed suit, honking at a volume that rattled the windows.
Patricia shrieked, dropping her metal clipboard. She turned to run, but she was wearing sensible khakis and loafers, entirely unequipped for evasive maneuvers. Maximus caught the back of her pant leg, his serrated beak clamping down with bruising force, beating his massive wings against her shins.
The scene captured on Marcus’s 4K security cameras was nothing short of cinematic comedy. Patricia was sprinting in erratic zig-zags across the lawn, screaming at the top of her lungs, pursued relentlessly by a blur of white feathers and unbridled rage.