Counting Crows

Part Two

The Crow had been forgotten. A thing of a distant memory. She had gotten used to living on her own. She learned how to do things on her own in the few years that had passed since her story began. She'd forgotten what other people looked and sounded like, content to survive off of the food that the surrounding forest provided her with. She learned how to cook, how to clean, she learned different bird calls, and learned how to scare away predators. She was better off without her parents she thought. There was no extra cause for anxiety in her life anymore. She'd had a few run-ins with people in the years, people lost in their travels, people trying to take advantage of her, calling her the "Forest Dweller." She quite liked that name. She'd forgotten her own. None of these people ever darkened her doorstep for very long though. She quickly sent them on their way, not wanting anything to do with them. She was happy with this life she led.

 
She was cleaning the room one day, lying on the ground trying to reach under the table beside her bed when she heard a loud screech that she hadn't heard in years. She shot up and spun around to look at the windowsill. There sat two Crows. She could swear one had the same glassy, dead eyes as the last one she saw had. A shiver ran down her spine. She wasn't scared of predators, of humans, of the frightful weather, but there was something about these birds and their echoing caws and dead eyes that chilled her to the bone. She tentatively stepped towards them, shooing them away with her hands. They wouldn't budge. Even when she was standing so close she could lay a hand on one if she wished, they looked at her and cawed incessantly. She slowly reached a hand out and touched one with her finger, thinking maybe it would cause it to fly away, but as soon as she touched it a strong electric shock ran through her body.
She peeled her eyes open and the sun streamed in through them, causing a pounding in her head. She couldn't remember why she was on the floor. Maybe she'd jumped back in fright and hit her head when the Crows flew away, or maybe she tripped on something. She just knew that the last thing she remembered was the Crows eyes staring at her, looking as though they could see into her soul and see everything she's done.

It was 9 months later, the Crows long gone from her mind. She just put it down to the seasons changing causing headaches and fainting spells and new birds to show up. She was cleaning her house as she does every day, assigning each day to a different room. She made sure to steer clear of that room though. That room brought back memories of emptiness and visions of a cold lifeless body. The vomit stains were still there on the mattress. She'd tried to scrub it out in the months following his death but she couldn't. Eventually, the memories became too much and she just closed the door and swore never to open it again. She'd buried his body elsewhere, far away where the only thing that could reach it was she and the wild animals. Nobody else knew the forest like her. And she liked it that way. It felt like her own sanctuary to feel safe and wrapped in. A knock snapped her out of her cleaning frenzy. She froze. She wasn't used to that sound. Nobody came near Forest Dweller. She tiptoed over to the door, as though it would make a difference and slowly reached out to push the door open. There on the other side of the door stood a man. He had eyes the colour of the grass after a rainy day and hair the colour of trees trunks. He smiled. His teeth stood out, bright and shining against his skin. She stood in the doorway, blocking the entry to her house. Nobody but her was allowed in the house. But he was nice. His voice was like honey. His eyes were welcoming. Maybe she could let him in. It was harmless, right? He just wanted directions to a town she hadn't heard of. She'd have to look at the map she found for the way as he'd lost his. She went against her rules. Nobody but her. Until it was nobody but Him. He pushed her into that room. Her eyes wandered to the vomit stains still there. Why didn't she throw the mattress away? An old beer bottle was laying beside it. She was pushed onto the vomit. His honeyed voice, welcoming eyes, and nice smile were gone. His voice turned into a thunderclap, eyes into a sky on a stormy day and his mouth was a hard line across his face. He forced himself on her. She struggled. She tried. She screamed. But who would hear her out here? Her sanctuary was shattered. Nobody but her. Nobody but her. nobody but her. nobodybuther. nobodybuthernobodybuthernobodybutHim. She grabbed that beer bottle, dust coating her fingers, and slammed it over his head. The honey became blood. It trickled onto her face. He was slumped on her. He had invaded her space. He deserved it.

She looked over the familiar space. Two people she hated the most lay here. She laughed. The situation shouldn't bring Mirth to her. But she was different. Nobody but Him became Nobody but Her once again.

Two crows circled over her as she sat on the ground, clutching her soil-covered hands to her face. Their cawing began again and their glassy eyes turned upwards as they flew away once again.