Law and Insanity

Chapter II

A raven, dark as coal with a gaze burning like its accomplice, soared over a gray farmland off the outskirts concerning a large city, out of reach of civilization, yet quickly accessible to it. It passed over a large barn, originally painted red but now only displaying hurt colours as its age shown like wrinkles upon the face of an old man. Determined upon a location with no specific interest, the lonely avian continued past the worn building and was met once again with open fields interrupted by occasional trees, reaching out high enough to touch the bird. To this, it dodged and looped around the organic pillars, making sleight of elegance its shorthanded concern.

Once more, it caught glimpse of a notable landmark, one not of human creation; a small river leading into an ever smaller pond, of which the source lay far beyond the orange horizon. The raven averted its dark, beady eyes towards a small boat which sat upon the calm waters of the pond. There was a man, quietly seated, holding a peculiar rod that stretched over the vessel and nearly into the water on which he rafted. Suddenly, the distant man took a firm grasp of the stick, and pulled it upwards with force, unleashing a fish from the depths below. The bird looked at the man curiously, and decided to circle him out of pure fascination.

The man pulled the flailing body closer until it met the floor of the boat, where it violently hopped around for a few seconds and eventually stopped. The raven was drawn to the interaction and swooped in, calmly landing on the edge of the raft. The man looked

away from the gasping fish on the floor, and was taken by surprise by the bird. They shared a few moments of silent eye contact. The raven remained unfazed at the larger, stronger and smarter creature before him, same as to the man with the rod, who seemed to be accustomed to animals. The avian hopped down onto the floor of the boat, and scuttled its way towards the silent fish, where it lay with its eyes widened and mouth opened. The man chuckled at the raven before his feet, and decided to approach his roughened hand to pet it. He was suddenly interrupted by the fish, as it felt the pointy beak of the bird, becoming reanimated, jumping into the air, hitting the bird on its face, and flying into the water. The chick became startled and lifted away, escaping the gentle palm of the man, and soaring above and over yonder. The man simply looked on in somber disappointment. He picked up his peculiar rod, and returned to holding it over the water.

The raven continued, seemingly dissatisfied at the locations presented before him on his directionless travels. He flew for many minutes, taking advantage of every gust as the cool country breeze coursed through its feathers. He saw clouds and fields, green with vegetation, yet unsaturated due to the weather. He saw small cabins and deers, presented in pairs or trios, galloping in and out of view with bushes and trees. He saw a dirt road, stretching out of sight, yet leading into a small cabin with an odd metallic contraption stationed outside. Enamored by the glint off the roof, the raven once again descended, now towards the structure, observing that it had seemingly open holes and circular objects on the bottom. It had symmetrical edges and designs, so it couldn't have been a rock.

He landed on the top of the object peeking over the edges and around its curves, quickly becoming distracted by a light originating from an opening in the wooden box close to him. He took off and met his claws on the windowsill, peering inside. He observed a tidy household and yet another human, sitting alone in a small room. The raven waited for a few moments curiously, hoping to see another fish flailing or another bizarre rod. After many second, nothing occurred but a slight adjustment of the man's slumped leg. He became disinterested at the lack of movement and left.

What lay there was a drunken man, a bastard of society accepted only within the confines of his soul, yet not even appreciated there. Sensibly, he thought upon himself as scum, as well as the beast which sat before him. This beast was not a monster- indeed, it was of familiar genus; a great lion, much larger in size than a clique of men bundled together, boasting a chaotic hide. The inquiry of the presence of such an animal found no substance within the drunken man's mind, for he knew with little to no certainty as to the realism of the situation. He became accustomed to such appearances, and was only delighted in the company of the large cat. Prior, they'd been discussing- rather- the drunkard had been rambling of nonsense, to which the lion began to speak.