Man and Birds: The Raid of Seagulls (An Inkwell Fiction Story)

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In most coastal areas, one would be hard-pressed not to find markets selling a large variety of fresh seafood. But that's expected for a village or town near the sea. Moreover, the seafood and scenery were the main attraction in most coastal villages and towns.

However, the picturesque coastal town of Moore is a bit different. Indeed, the delicious seafood and gorgeous sceneries were two reasons tourists visited the town. But the main reason was the "wars" waged by the seafood stall owners and fishmongers against the seagulls.

Despite how weird that might sound, "wars" between the townsfolk of Moore and the seagulls were happening weekly. Yes, it only happened once a week, and only on weekends, or to be more exact, every Saturday.

Of course, as one would expect, these "wars" were not the conventional kind of war. And so do the weapons used to fight them.

Moreover, instead of guns and cannons, the townsfolk used mops, nets, dusters, and everyday household tools that one could get their hands on. And no, man and birds were never harmed during these "skirmishes," although feathers were certainly ruffled.

So when did these fights between man and birds start precisely?

According to the record, it all started five years ago. One Saturday morning, a flock of seagulls suddenly appeared out of nowhere and raided the open boxes of seafood scattered around the market. After snatching a lot of fish, the seagulls flew away. The unexpected raid from the seagulls caught the townsfolk so off-guard that they could only react once the birds left.

The second time it happened, the townsfolk was still caught mostly unprepared, but the damage done was much smaller than the first raid. On the third time, the stall owners had learned their lessons and did various preparations, but the seagulls could still steal many fish.

After several more raids, the townsfolk, the seafood stall owners, had had enough and demanded the local officials do something about the seagulls. For this reason, meetings were held to decide what to do to stop the raids. Various recommendations were made during said meetings. Most suggestions were harmless to the birds, but some were extreme. For example, some were calling for the birds culling to reduce their numbers. That being said, reason prevailed, and all of the harmful suggestions were bagged.

However, no matter the local government's measures, nothing could stop the raids. Finally, a breakthrough happened after a few more attacks from the seagulls and the most unexpected source – social media or, more precisely, a social media influencer.

It happened when a famous social media influencer visited Moore to film the "war" between the stall owners and the seagulls. The social media influencer read about the news in an online article and found it interesting. So with his crew, he flew to Moore to film and investigate the reason for the seagulls' strange behavior. First, he explored the nesting place of the seagulls and then filmed several of the raids.

After more than a month of investigation, a conclusion was made; the reason for the raids was that the seagulls discovered that stealing fish from humans was much easier than hunting them. Moreover, humans usually shoo them away instead of hurting them, so stealing from humans is much safer. And the raids only happened on Saturdays because the largest variety of fish and other seafood was being sold during that particular day – boatloads, boxes, and boxes of them.

Once the video was uploaded on YouTube, the weird "war" between humans and seagulls became famous and received millions of views in hours. As a result, Moore suddenly became famous, and flocks and flocks of tourists unexpectedly visited the town, especially during the weekend. Seeing this, the local officials had an epiphany and decided to use these skirmishes as the town's main tourist attraction. Hence, the town of More became the most visited coastal area in the region.

Back in the present, the townsfolk were preparing for the raids. At the dock, muscular-looking men were unloading boxes of seafood from the boats. Not far away from them were flocks of seagulls. These seagulls were resting on the nearby electric poles, houses, and trees, the gleams on their eyes were unmistakably predatory. Some tourists were also nearby looking at this strange scene with interest, cameras, and cellphones at hand.

"Is everything ready?" asked one of the men unloading the boxes of seafood after seeing the last box being loaded on a truck.

"Yes!" another man answered.

The first man nodded, signaling everyone to drive the seafood to the market. Once the trucks started moving, the seagulls and tourists followed suit. Once the trucks reached the market, the bustling and noisy place suddenly became quiet.

"They're finally here!" one of the tourists sitting at a nearby open-air coffee shop exclaimed excitedly after seeing the trucks and the boxes of seafood.

Meanwhile, the stall owners did not share the excitement of the tourists. Instead, their expressions were solemn and severe, like they were about to fight a war.

"Are the preparations complete?" a stall owner asked his assistant.

"Yes, everything is ready," replied the assistant after picking up a bug net. "Those seagulls won't be stealing any of our fish today!"

Not long after, the men from the dock started unloading the boxes. Once the boxes were delivered to their respective stalls, the atmosphere suddenly changed and became tense.

"Good luck!" said one of the men from the dock to the stall owner before boarding his truck and driving off.

The stall owners and their assistants didn't open the boxes of seafood right away; instead, they eyed the seagulls warily. Nearby, the tourists were waiting for the "war" to start with great anticipation, their cameras and cellphone ready to capture everything.

Once the boxes of seafood were opened, chaos ensued as the seagulls dived toward the stalls in droves. One by one, the fish were being stolen, much to the anger and disappointment of the stall owners and their assistants but much to the delight of the tourists watching this chaotic scene.

With little success, one stall owner tried to drive away the seagulls trying to snatch her fish using a feather duster. Another one caught a seagull with a bug net but still had some of his fish stolen by the other seagulls. Several stall owners and their assistants threw a large net into the seagulls, capturing many of them.

Outside the market area, the tourists were busy capturing the chaotic scene using their devices. As they were situated outside, they were unaffected by the chaos and could capture every scene inside the market at their leisure.

Half an hour later, the raid was over, and as one would expect, the inside of the marker was a mess with feathers, fish, and other items scattered everywhere. The captured seagulls were surrendered to the local authority and put into cages to be transported to a local wildlife center, where they would be cared for before being released later.

As for the stalls, they didn't suffer that much loss as the local government would compensate them for any damage incurred. And although many of the fish were stolen by the seagulls during the chaotic event, they were relatively cheap and numerous. The more expensive ones to be sold are hidden safely elsewhere.

After years of being raided, the townsfolk have smartened up and developed various countermeasures to minimize loss, and hiding the more expensive seafood before the raid was just one of them. For this reason, they can afford to be raided by the seagulls weekly. Of course, the large numbers of tourists visiting the town every week provide significant business opportunities to the locals, so much so that the damage caused by the seagulls could be largely ignored. In a way, the locals of the coastal town of Moore and the seagulls have developed a somewhat symbiotic relationship – both sides benefitting from each other.

Anyway, now that the raid was over, the townsfolk could do business with the tourists who came to watch the weekly event—the end.