Home
The dark skies above predict nothing good; ominous dark grey clouds shove past the sun, blocking sunlight from reaching the ground. The ground is frozen and covered in a layer of snow, brownish and dirty looking, as many people have already stepped on it. Though, looking at the city now, there’s not even a single animal crossing the road. The city looks abandoned and neglected.
Yet there’s still a bit of life form left in the cold dead city; a fifteen years old boy walks through the snow, a bag hanging from his hands. He doesn’t look back, neither does he look in front of him; his eyes focused on what once used to be the asphalt road, now a thick layer of snow with now and then feet prints and a few bits of grey asphalt left.
In his bag he keeps an animal, a dead bird like no one has ever seen before; a blackbird. Once so most known around the world, now it’s a species that will never return again. The boy had found the last one dead and stuffed and mounted its skin. He knows for sure he had found the last one, since the blackbird was never seen again after his last found.
He loved doing taxidermy, it made him feel like he did something useful. He had a house but no people to ask for help, no parents that took care of him. He’s all alone. The only ones that keep him company are his stuffed animal skins, the dead animals standing on their base.
For a moment he stands still and looks at the dark sky, little bits of sunlight shine in his eyes, which makes him blink a few times. Yet he keeps watching; the sky looks so beautifully dark and cold during the freezing winter days. There are only a few people left in the city and none of them dare to step onto the road during these days, he’s the only one. And the road looks even better all by himself. He wanted to be loved by a family but he hated outsiders, he couldn’t speak to the neighbors. They would all find him just plain weird and he agreed with them.
He hears a sound he hasn’t heard on ages. The sound of a bird, close near him.
Looking around him, he sees nothing but white, nothing but snow. There’s no bird, yet he still hears the bird’s call. Is it all his imagination, or is there really a flying animal there, but can’t he just yet see it? The kid decides to walk around for a moment, hoping to find the creature once he changes places.
After all he would love to seen this bird. He doesn’t know what species it is, neither did he ever think there were still birds flying around, alive and healthy. Well, he isn’t sure about the ‘being healthy’ part, though. The bird is alive, still the boy can’t yet tell if it’s healthy or not. It might as well carry a disease with him, maybe even transmittable to people.
As the kid keeps wondering, he doesn’t hear the sound of slamming wings behind him. Something dark flies over him and the kid looks up, but there’s nothing there. Once again it’s incredibly silent around him; there are no people, no animals, even the wind has stopped blowing. For how long, the boy doesn’t know.
Again that sound of slamming wings fills the air around him, and the boy looks up again. Nothing’s there, but in the corner of his eye he can see the black figure again, landing on the road. The boy wonders why the bird doesn’t slip over the thin layer of ice laying on the road, but then again maybe he just didn’t saw the creature long enough to see it slip on the ice. After all animals can keep their balance very well, else they wouldn’t survive in the wild when being hunted by a predator during winter. So they must find back their balance in time when being in ice or trapped in a thick layer of snow.
The boy studies the bird, taking a good look at its presence; it’s a crow. A black crow with only one eye. The bird stares at him and doesn’t seem to be afraid of him. It even takes one step forward, stretching its neck to take a better look at the human.
It’s like they are examining each other, it’s like the bird wants to know more about human life, while the boy is the other way around.
The boy takes a step forward, the crow a step back. The boy takes a step back, the crow a step forward. It’s like the bird wants to challenge him, or maybe it’s just interested in getting to know the human better. It looks like they’re dancing. These movements of going back and forth keep on going for a while, until the boy takes a step forward and the crow just doesn’t move anymore.
The kid frowns and takes another step forward, the crow stays put. It looks at the kid with that one eye, black and sparkling like a bead. The boy slowly comes closer to the crow, reaching his hand for it. The crow still stays put and watches his hand, it opens its beak and started making the sounds the boy had heard before; this is the bird he had been looking for.
‘’Hey there… it’s alright. I don’t want to hurt you.’’, the boy says and it’s like the bird understands him. It doesn’t go anywhere, it stays where it is now and keeps looking at the boy. The way it looks at the human makes it almost look like a cute little bird, while in fairy tales crows are known for bringing death and despair. This bird doesn’t bring any death and despair, does it? ‘’Why don’t you come here?’’
The bird stops making any sounds and looks at the boy more intensely, like it understands what the boy’s saying. It blinks its eye, but that’s the only movement it’s making now. The boy takes another step forward, the bird takes another step forward as well.
The boy swallows; what’s going on? How can’t this bird be scared of him? All birds he has seen during his life have tried to flee from him; this one is coming closer, like it wants the boy to touch him.
It ends up in front of him, just only a few feet away. It looks curiously at the boy, its dark grey beak half way open and it’s black eye sparkling. Suddenly the boy doesn’t feel too comfortable anymore being this close to the crow. It feels like there’s something wrong, something going on, but the boy doesn’t know what it is. He’s feeling strange.
There is a way back, though, he knows but he doesn’t go back. He takes another step forward, and another, until the bird is like one feet away from him. Maybe even closer. He reaches out his hand at the animal, hoping to be able to touch it, maybe pet it on its head.
There’s a sting in his head and it almost sounds like the crow is screaming like a person in danger, a high-pitched sound. The boy gets startled and takes a few steps back, almost stumbling over his own two feet. Looking in shock at the bird, he realizes there’s an odd darkish glow around the bird, like there’s some sort of dark shadow. The bird has stopped hissing, or screaming, or whatever it was, and is now looking at the boy again.
The boy, thinking he can try again, takes one step closer to the bird.
The bird however turns around and flies off, this time. It’s like the creature’s a bird like any other bird; scared of humans and flying off when humans are in their view, or getting close near them. But the boy knows this bird, this crow, is different.
This one had stayed there watching him for minutes and even came closer. Why remains a miracle, but it’s sure that this bird was no ordinary crow.
Yet there’s still a bit of life form left in the cold dead city; a fifteen years old boy walks through the snow, a bag hanging from his hands. He doesn’t look back, neither does he look in front of him; his eyes focused on what once used to be the asphalt road, now a thick layer of snow with now and then feet prints and a few bits of grey asphalt left.
In his bag he keeps an animal, a dead bird like no one has ever seen before; a blackbird. Once so most known around the world, now it’s a species that will never return again. The boy had found the last one dead and stuffed and mounted its skin. He knows for sure he had found the last one, since the blackbird was never seen again after his last found.
He loved doing taxidermy, it made him feel like he did something useful. He had a house but no people to ask for help, no parents that took care of him. He’s all alone. The only ones that keep him company are his stuffed animal skins, the dead animals standing on their base.
For a moment he stands still and looks at the dark sky, little bits of sunlight shine in his eyes, which makes him blink a few times. Yet he keeps watching; the sky looks so beautifully dark and cold during the freezing winter days. There are only a few people left in the city and none of them dare to step onto the road during these days, he’s the only one. And the road looks even better all by himself. He wanted to be loved by a family but he hated outsiders, he couldn’t speak to the neighbors. They would all find him just plain weird and he agreed with them.
He hears a sound he hasn’t heard on ages. The sound of a bird, close near him.
Looking around him, he sees nothing but white, nothing but snow. There’s no bird, yet he still hears the bird’s call. Is it all his imagination, or is there really a flying animal there, but can’t he just yet see it? The kid decides to walk around for a moment, hoping to find the creature once he changes places.
After all he would love to seen this bird. He doesn’t know what species it is, neither did he ever think there were still birds flying around, alive and healthy. Well, he isn’t sure about the ‘being healthy’ part, though. The bird is alive, still the boy can’t yet tell if it’s healthy or not. It might as well carry a disease with him, maybe even transmittable to people.
As the kid keeps wondering, he doesn’t hear the sound of slamming wings behind him. Something dark flies over him and the kid looks up, but there’s nothing there. Once again it’s incredibly silent around him; there are no people, no animals, even the wind has stopped blowing. For how long, the boy doesn’t know.
Again that sound of slamming wings fills the air around him, and the boy looks up again. Nothing’s there, but in the corner of his eye he can see the black figure again, landing on the road. The boy wonders why the bird doesn’t slip over the thin layer of ice laying on the road, but then again maybe he just didn’t saw the creature long enough to see it slip on the ice. After all animals can keep their balance very well, else they wouldn’t survive in the wild when being hunted by a predator during winter. So they must find back their balance in time when being in ice or trapped in a thick layer of snow.
The boy studies the bird, taking a good look at its presence; it’s a crow. A black crow with only one eye. The bird stares at him and doesn’t seem to be afraid of him. It even takes one step forward, stretching its neck to take a better look at the human.
It’s like they are examining each other, it’s like the bird wants to know more about human life, while the boy is the other way around.
The boy takes a step forward, the crow a step back. The boy takes a step back, the crow a step forward. It’s like the bird wants to challenge him, or maybe it’s just interested in getting to know the human better. It looks like they’re dancing. These movements of going back and forth keep on going for a while, until the boy takes a step forward and the crow just doesn’t move anymore.
The kid frowns and takes another step forward, the crow stays put. It looks at the kid with that one eye, black and sparkling like a bead. The boy slowly comes closer to the crow, reaching his hand for it. The crow still stays put and watches his hand, it opens its beak and started making the sounds the boy had heard before; this is the bird he had been looking for.
‘’Hey there… it’s alright. I don’t want to hurt you.’’, the boy says and it’s like the bird understands him. It doesn’t go anywhere, it stays where it is now and keeps looking at the boy. The way it looks at the human makes it almost look like a cute little bird, while in fairy tales crows are known for bringing death and despair. This bird doesn’t bring any death and despair, does it? ‘’Why don’t you come here?’’
The bird stops making any sounds and looks at the boy more intensely, like it understands what the boy’s saying. It blinks its eye, but that’s the only movement it’s making now. The boy takes another step forward, the bird takes another step forward as well.
The boy swallows; what’s going on? How can’t this bird be scared of him? All birds he has seen during his life have tried to flee from him; this one is coming closer, like it wants the boy to touch him.
It ends up in front of him, just only a few feet away. It looks curiously at the boy, its dark grey beak half way open and it’s black eye sparkling. Suddenly the boy doesn’t feel too comfortable anymore being this close to the crow. It feels like there’s something wrong, something going on, but the boy doesn’t know what it is. He’s feeling strange.
There is a way back, though, he knows but he doesn’t go back. He takes another step forward, and another, until the bird is like one feet away from him. Maybe even closer. He reaches out his hand at the animal, hoping to be able to touch it, maybe pet it on its head.
There’s a sting in his head and it almost sounds like the crow is screaming like a person in danger, a high-pitched sound. The boy gets startled and takes a few steps back, almost stumbling over his own two feet. Looking in shock at the bird, he realizes there’s an odd darkish glow around the bird, like there’s some sort of dark shadow. The bird has stopped hissing, or screaming, or whatever it was, and is now looking at the boy again.
The boy, thinking he can try again, takes one step closer to the bird.
The bird however turns around and flies off, this time. It’s like the creature’s a bird like any other bird; scared of humans and flying off when humans are in their view, or getting close near them. But the boy knows this bird, this crow, is different.
This one had stayed there watching him for minutes and even came closer. Why remains a miracle, but it’s sure that this bird was no ordinary crow.
