Experiment Scarecrow

As Crows Gather

As soon as the bell rang, the boy raced out of the school, abandoning his younger brother as he dashed into the safety of the woods, avoiding taking the path home. He made his way deeper into the woods, where the ground became a bed of leaves underneath his worn sneakers.

He knew exactly where to go to find his friends.

The boy finally emerged into a small clearing, where only a rotting tree stump stood; its gnarled roots still sprawled out among the tall grass below. He soon tossed his book bag down beside it, climbing onto the stump to sit down, pulling his knees up to his chest. "I hate it here..." he whimpered, burying his face in his forearms.

A black bird carefully fluttered down from the branches above, softly landing on his backpack. He sniffed, slowly lifting his head before looking down at the bird.

A crow.

One of his many friends.

He gave a small smile. "I-I just wish we all could run away. G-Go somewhere better."

The crow tilted its head, its beady black eyes fixated on him. It flicked its wings, hopping on his book bag as if forming a small dance.

The boy couldn't help but laugh, slowly lowering his knees before hopping off the stump as more crows began to gather around him. "Yes, yes, I brought something for all of you!"

He reached for his bag, causing the crow to hop back to the ground, joining the others who waited.

He soon pulled a small bag of unshelled peanuts from his bag, carefully reaching into the bag to scatter them across the ground.

The faint sound of the peanuts rustle in the grass excited the crows, causing them all to spring forth and pick at the peanuts in the grass. 

The boy watched them with a smile, although it soon began to fade at the sight of a runt struggling to collect the peanuts. He carefully stepped around the crows before squatting down before the small crow, reaching into the bag to give the remaining small pile to it.

"Here you go, little one. You deserve peanuts too."

The small crow tilted its head before beginning to cautiously peck at the peanuts, still eyeing the others around him who continued to search.

"It's ok, you're safe. We're all friends here."

He gave another smile to the small bird, observing as the others fluttered to the trees once they finished eating. The runt lifted its head, watching the others before opening his wings to follow them to the safety of the branches above.

The boy giggled, placing the bag back into his backpack before skipping over to the trees, carefully climbing; placing one foot at a time on each branch, until he reached where the crows now perched.

Although he was forced to sit a foot or two away, to keep from frightening them, he still felt accepted.

If only he could have been a crow.