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N.D. GOMES graduated from the University of Stirling with a BA in Media & Journalism Studies, and went on to receive her Master’s degree in Education in the US She currently works in a public school system to increase educational opportunities for students with special needs. Prior, N.D. Gomes wrote for the London-based online student political magazine, deAlign and stage-managed student plays at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York City where she attended for two years. Her first novel, Dear Charlie, was published in 2016, followed by Blackbird in 2017.
This book is for my sister, Olivia.
Your strength and grace amaze me.
BLACKBIRD PLAYLIST
SYML – ‘WHERE’S MY LOVE’
BON IVER – ‘SKINNY LOVE’
AMBER RUN – ‘I FOUND’
DERMOT KENNEDY – ‘AFTER RAIN’
JOHNNY CASH – ‘HURT’
KALEO – ‘ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS’
SYML – ‘BETTER’
DERMOT KENNEDY – ‘SHELTER’
LILY ALLEN – ‘SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNEW’
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN – ‘THE FOX IN THE SNOW’
BON IVER – ‘HOLOCENE’
SEAFRET – ‘OCEANS’
SIA – ‘BIRD SET FREE’
Contents
Chapter One: 02.01.2016 (morning)
Chapter Two: 02.01.2016 (afternoon)
Chapter Twenty-One: 19.01.2016
Chapter Twenty-Two: 20.01.2016
Chapter Twenty-Three: 21.01.2016
Chapter Twenty-Four: 22.01.2016
Chapter Twenty-Five: 30.12.2015
Chapter Twenty-Six: 23.01.2016
Chapter Twenty-Seven: 24.01.2016
Chapter Twenty-Eight: 24.01.2016
Chapter Twenty-Nine: 24.01.2016
Chapter Thirty-One: 28.01.2016
Thirty-first of December. The end of 2015. That was the night that five thousand blackbirds dropped dead from the sky just before midnight in Beebe, small-town America. Witnesses recalled a dark blanket descending upon the town just moments before the state of Arkansas was propelled into the year 2016. The blanket turned out to be a sheath of dead feathers and battered bodies.
A local preacher blamed it on us – on the evils of modern society. He said the deaths were symbolic of our sins, and that this was only the beginning of the consequences that would follow. Maybe the sudden unexplained death of a species representing freedom and hope really did indicate an ominous future for us all. My science teacher thinks the birds just flew into a jet engine, or that they died because of fireworks.
The southern states in the US went crazy. Locals stocked up on bottled water, first-aid kits and weapons. Some even fled their homes. News reporters broadcasted hysteria-inducing specials on this apocalyptic warning. It happened right in front of me, on my TV screen. I watched it all unfold from my living room in Orkney, like some late-night television drama. But it wasn’t. It was real, and it was scary.
I