You can't escape Death <Frans>

CHAPTER 16: The Crow revisiting

Over time, things had progressively gotten more and more strange as a whole. I couldn't quite process as to what exactly what was happening to me, and it was obvious people were starting to think of me differently the more peculiar things got.

I was starting to draw attention to myself, and not in a good way. Both children and adults would stare as me and Blake sat outside during the afternoon courtyard sessions.

Though almost March, the tress were starting to decay, and the usually green grass was now brown and wilted. No flowers had started to bloom yet, and yet every other year, they begun blooming around this time of early spring. Along with the plant life dying, it was exceptionally hard to grow our crops for our community at this time of the year, even upon the usage of greenhouses and fertilizers. No one could understand what was going on.

There was so much rain, and so little life.

However, despite everything, the strangest of all was the fact that everywhere I went, a blooming trail of Life seemed to follow me. Was it just a coincidence? I couldn't comprehend or wrap my head around such strange atrocities, and why did they have to be cursed upon me?

The chairmen issued that there was no need to panic in this time of Death, and instead, should keep doing many great deeds to try and help the life around us survive. But it seemed that nothing was working in the end, and people, though they won't admit it, were starting to lose hope.

I sat next to the kitchen window sill, whilst Mother was cleaning and Father was at his daily activities. The dark house, though much natural light, grew dreary with no life surrounding it. The trees began to die a while ago, and it grew apparent that there was no saving them anymore. Not even the water that had continuously fallen from the sky could bring back the green leaves they once bore, and the small blossoms of flowers that bloomed around them.

Now, only the bare branches were left, and the leaves lied fallen on the ground, deceased and decayed.

My Mother hadn't moved the melancholy plant since the tragic loss of it's life. It had happened so suddenly, and if anything, she had been trying to work hard to bring it back to its healthy form once more. Reduced to ash, there was nothing she could do for it anymore, and I ran my fingers through it's dried soil. The tedious time ticking by slowly as my eyelids grew heavy only seemed to drag on the seconds for what seemed like hours, as I rested my head on the small sill.

Suddenly, grabbing my attention, yet another crow landed about on the outer rim of the window. If I could, I would have said that it might have been the same one as the other day I had seen it during that large rainstorm. "Oh! Hello." I said, smiling slightly, as I giggled to myself. "Pretty bird." I said, smiling, and extending my finger towards the glass.

The crow immediately moved away from my hand, afraid of it, and cawed loudly. I retracted my finger as soon as I realized his reaction, and just looked at him, fully prepared for him to fly away from the scare I had given him. However, the crow didn't move. He just stood there, cocking his head, and ruffling his feathers, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

He begun to peck the glass of the window loudly, leaving horrid scratches on the outer pane, and I gasped loudly, jumping up and waving my hands around violently. "Hey! Don't do that!" I raised my voice, grumbling. "That's rude! Stop that!" I said, rising my voice even louder, since my Mother had turned on the vacuum to clean. However, the foul beast didn't move.

Once I had realized that the Bird wasn't going to stop at his antics, I got up reluctantly, and stomped towards the door, with my hands turning into fists at my sudden flush of emotions. "Fine! If you want to be like that--!" I turned towards the crow, who was still there, but I was more entranced by the fully grown house plant by the window sill.  "What the—?" I asked myself, squinting, trying to comprehend yet another mystery.

I shook off the thought, more concerned by my Mother's window, and raced over to the back of the house where the Crow sat.

Arriving there in the gentle afternoon rising temperatures, the crow looked at me, as if I had done something wrong, cocking his head and repeating nothing but silence as it seemed to lock his eyes upon my own.

In his eyes rested nothing but the transience of life and nature, and if he merely existed to be there for nothing at all. His slick, black feathers reminded me of both the exasperating and loyal form of life, having not being able to hide from his predators during the day, but having the freedom to take flight wherever he went at his choosing. "Shoo!" I said, waving my hands at the bird in a manner that read for him to fly away.

As a flight animal, you would have though for him to fly at me merely coming around the house, however, he didn't seem to budge at all from my actions.

Walking over to the crow, I reached out to touch him with my finger as I did earlier though the double-paned glass. He retracted, which I found rather odd, and I continued to march forward to him with determination finding its way into my body once more.

He cawed loudly once more, and took off into the sky. He gracefully clapped his wings and didn't look back, cawing loudly as he fled the scene. I stood to watch the bird guide itself throughout the slight breeze, however, suddenly, a loud noise was heard, and the crow tumbled out of the sky sloppily and unnaturally.

I gasped loudly, and ran over to the creature as his feathers seemed to fall from his body, and almost seems human for a split second, showing a face of anguish from what had happened.

A gunshot.

Civilians were not allowed to bear arms, except for the community troopers to maintain a balance of peace through the neighborhood. Could that have been them spotting the rare crow in the community? Where did they come from? If so, then they would they have shot the innocent animal? Did they have any good reason to kill the being?

The bird hit the ground with a thud, and it quickly began to what seemed like dissipating into ash as his muffled noises of pain got quieter and quieter. Getting on my knees, all I could see was a black feather, as I leaned in to grab it, confused. Did he fall? Where did he go?

Questioned swarmed my small mind as I heard soft footsteps behind me.

However, I was never able to turn around, because suddenly the world went dark, and I was staring directly into a void of blackness as my eyelids closed within a microsecond.