Dark clouds rolled over the morning sky, concealing the weak winter sun from the longing world below. A thin coat of mist still lingered from the night before, leaving dewdrops on the leaves of the trees and bushes that adorned the sidewalk of the old city.
Esther kept her hands in the warm pockets of her trench coat, casually making her way to the same boring office job she went to every day for the past year and a half.
Despite how little she enjoyed the actual work, the walk there was always soothing. Something about walking down an almost empty street in the early dawn, with only a few tired people roaming around and the company of the birds who rose with the sun, flying across the sky towards the canal.
Esther followed them through her usual path over the bridge, watching as they settled down on the park ground by the side of the canal, joining in with another multitude of birds.
She came to a slow stop at the side of the bridge, her eyes growing wide as they fell on an all-too familiar figure seated on the bench facing the water. A young man, only a slight bit older than her, wearing a thin summer jacket in the early autumn morning, surrounded by ravens and pigeons alike, all eagerly gathered around him for the spare crumbs he tossed them as he hummed.
Dear God... of all people in the world... Why did it *have* to be him?
The very sight of him still took her breath away all these years later, but not the way he used to... what was once a blissful feeling now suffocated her as her body stood frozen on the bridge, watching.
Almost like he could feel her, the young man glanced up, his eyes finding Esther's immediately. The birds took off swiftly as the two made contact, flying off towards the nearby trees of the park and remaining there, watching the event from a safe distance.
The boy offered Esther a slight smile but she quickly looked away, lingering for only another moment before hurrying along on her path to work, not daring to glance back even once. She couldn't.
It wasn't until the two parted from each other and she was long gone, that the birds returned to the boy's side, first the ravens, then the others, all settling around him once again, lingering by his side for comfort as they eagerly awaited whatever more food he could spare.
WC: 419
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An Arcane Scrapbook Collection
RandomA collection of short stories/poems/ideas that are too small to fit anywhere else <3
