Crow & Crow

Crow and Crow - A short story

Iris had a problem

It wasn't her keen vision, it wasn't her talons, even her black as night feathers weren't messy as they always seemed to get in the afternoon sun. She had lived in the giant Arbutus tree with her flock of other crows ever since she had hatched. Fourth branch up from the bottom, it's always been like that for the whole 2 years of her life. She ate with her flock, she flew with her flock, she knew everyone's names and even knew some of the regular humans that come by and visit the tree, like Joshua, Leia, the Baluers, and Wilson and his wife. From any passing avian, Iris looked like any typical crow

Except...she wasn't. Any time her branch mates would bring up romantic gossip about who's liking who, Iris' mind would always drift more towards humans. She appreciated crows such as herself but for some unknown reason, she'd feel like she would be much happier with another human than another crow. Why her mind worked like this didn't bother Iris for a majority of her life, she just found more joy in interacting with humans, like eating birdseed and going for the skittering mouse underneath the picnic bench instead of the absolutely delicious amalgamation that humans call a cheeseburger. The concession stand where the humans seem to receive their food has always been an attack spot against an unsuspecting smaller human, but Iris found no joy in taking food away from humans. Sometimes when she's feeling sad for them she brings them scraps of food she hasn't eaten yet. She's made friends with many of the humans, even a handsome one who Iris sometimes fantasises over

This, however, went against her own instinct. Sometimes when a human disturbs a crow on a lower branch, the entire tree spends months plotting of how to drive them out. Iris, however, forgives the human "it must have been just an accident!" She would say "the human ran away after we yelled at him, so why don't we just...ignore him and move on?" Iris would argue, which was always typically met with counter-arguments filled with how humans shouldn't be the rulers of Mother Earth like they are "they destroy our trees! They kill our young! Humans should never cross paths with us." The leader of the flock cawed. Iris was saddened about this

One night, as the flock slept, Iris couldn't sleep. Her mind filled with pictures of humans and how great they seemed. She couldn't understand why her mind did this, she wasn't hatched weirdly, her brothers and sisters all seemed to like other flock-mates and dislike humans, she was taught how to fly and hunt the same way as everyone else, then why was she weird? She needed to tell someone this because these thoughts would only pile up in her head. Maybe her flock could understand if she spoke with confidence? She had to try

So, the next morning, she addressed the Arbutus tree and spoke her heart out. She went on and on for minutes on end, sometimes even flapping her black wings in enthusiasm "I don't understand why but...i've felt like this since i was little. Humans are great! And it would be wonderful if our species could actually be closer together! What would we have to lose??" She cawed with confidence. The Arbutus tree went silent. One...two...three seconds pass, every moment made Iris' heart sink more and more "what have you done, Iris" she thought "what have you done??"

"...what?" Was the first response, which was followed by another in confusion, and another, and another. The entire tree became an uproar of cawing. Some humans in the park turned to look "are you insane?" One of the crows cawed "she must be mad!" "You wish to have sex with them?" "We are crows! Not humans!" The tree proceeded to throw sticks and berries at the heathen of a crow. Iris only cried in her nest, hoping they don't come near her. It was morally unacceptable to destroy another crows nest, but Iris felt like they would if they could

The following day, Iris didn't want to be in the great Arbutus tree any longer. All she was asked were questions about why she had these ideas and why she couldn't just like crows like every other crow on the tree. Iris didn't have any answers to those questions, as she was as confused as they were. Every time she answered "I don't know", she would be berated again. Iris slowly started to accept that her mind was simply torturing her, this was the universe wanting her to go mad with loneliness, because that's what she was

A few days pass. Iris could barely get to sleep anymore. She ate with the flock, she learned with the flock, she banged her head on the trunk of the tree until a human started filming her, but these ideas kept coming back to her. She couldn't help but feel warm at the thought of being embraced by a humans arms. That's what made her feel happy, but she couldn't, and that was her biggest flaw yet. No one would listen to her, no one would understand

She flew around the park alone, holding back her tears. She was tired, nervous, and shaking. Her wings could barely keep her body up. Not seeing where she was going, Iris flew straight into another crow, who cawed in surprise "whoa! Watch where you're-" but the other crow was interrupted by Iris dropping from the sky. The other crow dived and caught Iris with his talons, then quickly flew to a new tree, a short walk away from the great Arbutus tree "are you okay?" It said. Iris rolled to her feet in the other crows nest and shook her feathers "i-i'm fine" she said "i'm sorry...I shouldn't be-" "where's your flock?" The crow asked. Iris weakly turned towards the Arbutus tree "I'm...not a part of that flock anymore...all they do is tell me I'm..."

The other crow was confused "tell you you're...?" "They don't like me, okay?" Iris quickly stated, turning towards the other crow, but the other crow was looking at something else with a look of interest. Iris followed his gaze to that same handsome human that she sometimes fantasised over. They both followed his footsteps until sitting at a bench with a human female. Iris couldn't help but blush, which followed by quickly hiding her face in her wings. The other crow tilted his head "do you like humans too?"

Iris looked up from her wings "huh...?" "You looked at that human with the same interest as me. Not that I'm assuming you...like humans. I've just kinda...liked how they look." The crow said slightly stuttering. Iris didn't know what to say "y-yeah...! I-i like them too!" Iris said, folding her wings back. The other crow looked at Iris with surprise "really? Jeez, i thought i was the only one" he said, scanning another passing human. Iris felt something familiar in that moment "what do you...think about them?" Iris questioned. The crow shrugged "I don't know...they just look better then other crows. Their eyes and how their arms and legs move like that, sometimes their music is cool and...I don't know"

Iris felt that feeling she got when she saw handsome humans. How her chest would ruffle up and her heart flutter, how her mind would suddenly fill with pictures of this human. Iris saw it in the other crow too "uh...my name is Ian, by the way..." he said, slightly ruffling his feathers. Iris felt warm all over, even though she didn't feel any attraction to other crows...Ian was different. Iris started to talk about her own experiences with humans, and Ian listened. For once in Iris' life, someone cared about something weird she liked

Iris moved close to Ian. Nights would be spent against him, where she finally felt safe. Ian grew to feel the same way. Sometimes they would both gawk at humans passing by and sometimes other crows would pass by their nest, berating them like they used to. Iris didn't care anymore, she felt safe with Ian, and Ian felt safe with Iris

Iris never went back to the great Arbutus tree again