Short Stories With Alice

Crow Song

I wrote this piece for a creative writing class when I attended university back in 2018. As I didn't complete my degree, copyright for this piece has reverted back to me to post online for free to readers.

I broke them, not physically but mentally. They were the golden couple I used to spy on from the treetops of a humble oak. Call me a heartbreaker but as a crow, that's what I'm here to do. They say Death is my name but since I fly each day, I have life inside my veins.

Save the sight of the empty boxes of tissues scattered all over the lawn. The number of times I've counted discarded tissues soars into the thousands. Mother Crow told me that our role is, "To be mean, to give a sign to all those in humankind that we represent the sorrows and not the joys." She is long gone and so, I must fulfill her needs.

My home sometimes is that humble oak but rather, I gather up the courage of my bones and fly to the nearby graveyard. There is a grave that interests me the most and I slowly peck on the edge of marble, close to the final letter of the surname written. Edward Overman, my first victim. OK, I didn't realise that he was standing literally on the edge of a river and looking for a phone. Seagulls were close by and I thought maybe they would poop on him. But alas, he was in my direct line of flight. He had to go.

I flapped hard, building up my speed for a direct hit. Straight into his back, the last thing he did was yelp in discomfort as his thin body crashed into the lapping waters below. I'm sorry Edward, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. His phone must be laid down at the bottom of the river bed. The fish can play stupid games on it all day long.

This couple thought I was sure we were going to put a ring on it. But after that stupid woman tried to squash me one evening with a patio door, my rage would finally lash out and destroy their biggest dreams. A task however, I wanted to invite others to help me with.

A crow, let's call him Stan, came over to my perch one day and squawked, "They've come out of the film and are heading this way!"

Ah, the cinema again. Remind me why I wasn't cast as a character in a new major blockbuster? A crow can tell stories you know...

"Let's see, and think carefully," I paused, "I think he will take that shining gem out."

"He will!" Stan jumped in reply.

"You set me off alright? I will fly over and swoop that right out of his fingers. Maybe a little bite will do?" I wondered.

We had a plan, we just had to follow it. But, when your name is Death and your mind sometimes likes to twist things up... There was an inch of bloodiness etched into my claws. The beak was able to shelter the ring from human touch. Humans swear, we protect. At this stage, I wondered if Mother Crow was watching me from the heavens above, encouraging me on with the plan.

That golden couple had fallen directly into my line of view. In a nearby park, which used to be my former home with Mother Crow, they were holding hands and making a beeline for a bench next to a pond. When I saw the pond, I started to think of Edward. But he was now just a ghostly fragment etched into my memory. My gaze shifted back towards the two humans, whose touch seemed to bring them happiness but for me, only ignited my anger.

"Emma-Rose Young," the man started to speak. Stan and I tried hard to contain our laughter at the awkward expression written across the woman (Emma's) face. I now knew her name but not her reasons for trying to squash me to death in their back garden.

"Yes?" she hesitated, almost catching a glimpse of our hiding place. Almost rumbled at this stage!

"You know I want to spend the rest of my life with you right?" asked the man, whose name was still a mystery.

"Of course... but, I'm scared we are being watched." Emma admitted.

"Well, I'm the only person here in the park watching you right now. There's nothing to worry about." laughed the man, trying to reassure his... well, he thought soon to be wife. Stan and I now knew that Emma was scared and the man wanted to move quickly. We had to be quick.

"Ready?" I signalled to Stan as he lined up to distract the couple.

"Gotcha!" he smirked before setting off with a squawk and an angry, cold stare in his eyes.

Emma screamed at the sight of Stan flickering close to the top of her ponytail, the man seemed to burst into a fit of laughter as a form of amusement.

"You don't understand, this was the same bloody crow that tried to attack me the other day!" wailed Emma, "He was watching us!"

This was the cue for me to pounce. How Emma got Stan and me mixed up was only a sign that her happiness was soon to be thwarted at the hands of two, devilish crows. I lept into mid-air and unleashed a ferocious roar from the depths of my throat. As I sped directly towards the open box, I heard another scream and finally from the man, a shout as I grabbed onto the box with my beak.

"You little moron!" the man bellowed, making the ground tremble in fear. Stan on the other hand was still circling Emma's head to try and add some more fuel to the ever-growing fire. I found myself trying to smirk as I slowly lifted the engagement ring into my beak. There was no noise other than the thud of the box smacking down onto the grass.

"Bye!" squawked Stan as both of us took off in the direction of the graveyard. Even with the ring in my beak, I still risked turning back to see the man down on his knees crestfallen and Emma marching away in the direction of home.  

Our work here was done, this is Death Crow signing off. Now, I must seek out my next victim.