Fantasy Forest 3: Ressurection

14. The Raven

Talia laid face up on my bed with a cool damp towel over her eyes, dealing with the aftermath of her little freak out.

"I can't believe you did this." She said, her voice sounded tired and dead inside. I sat at my desk at the opposite side of the room. The afternoon sun was just barely peaking in thru the partialy closed blinds. Only a few more hours till nightfall. "Why do you always have to do this?" Talia asked and I kind of chewed on my tongue for a minute as I thought of how to answer.

"Its not like I meant for this to happen." I said at last. "And its not that bad."

"How so?"

"Im just saying that things could be worse."

"You could've died."

"But I didn't."

"Don't you have any fear?" She sat up slightly and pulled away the towel to look at me with one puffy eye. "There's a difference between brave and stupid." She said as she huffed and laid back down.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked her.

"I want you to promise me that you won't go back there. It's dangerous."

"What if it's not though? I know we have all been told the stories of the terrible monsters that live in those woods but I've actually been there now and I saw nothing of the sort. Sure I met people who may seem abnormal and may even be considered monsters but I felt no evil intentions from anyone."

Talia paused and sat up fully, letting the towel fall from her face. "I don't want you to get hurt." She said. "You are one of my best friends."

"Same." I said. "I promise to be more careful, ok?" Talia paused and then nodded as she wiped her eyes and groaned loudly.

"I need air." She said suddenly as she got up and left the apartment. I grabbed my phone and follow her all the way up to the roof. The sky was a heavy orange with the last few rays of sunlight as the clouds were painted a dusty pink. Talia walked over to her usual seat and sat down, leaning back in the chair so her face was tilted towards the sky. She pulled back of few strands of long black hair that had been moved by the breeze and then let out a long sigh. "Who needs the woods?" She asked. It sounded like she was talking to herself but I knew she was addressing me. "Look how beautiful it is here." It was indeed a beautiful sight. The city had its own charm but it was just so different than the forest. There was no use comparing the two.

Just as Talia was getting comfortable a shadow flew across her face. She squinted up at the sky to see a large bird circling the roof. It drew closer and closer until it landed on the rooftop wall where I usually sat. It was a large raven with shadowed feathers that glistened in the afternoon light. The animal seemed to pay us no mind as it preened its wing feathers and basked in the sun.

"Normally ravens don't like getting this close." Talia stated as she watched with fascination. "Where's its pair?"

"Pair?"

"I remember hearing in class that Ravens usually fly in pairs, right?"

"Maybe it's single." I stated and Talia paused and frowned at the idea.

"It must be lonely." She said. "Do you have anything we can give it?"

"Like what?" 

"Like food."

"I don't have any food."

"Then what do you have?" She asked and I paused and emptied my pockets. All I had was my phone and house keys which had a little silver charm on the key chain. I waved them around to show Talia I had nothing and as I did so the birds head shot up and looked at me. I paused and moved the keys some more and the bird's eyes followed.

"Don't ravens like shiny stuff?" She asked as I removed the silver charm from the keychain. It was a small silver heart on a small chain just big enough to fit around my finger. I grabbed hold of the end of the chain and slowly swung around the charm in little circles. The bird seemed fascinated and Talia laughed in amusement of the small spectacle. I turned to look at her momentarily and as I did so the bird took off, but it didn't fly away. Instead it flew straight at me. Talia screamed and I gasped and jumped back as the charm dropped from my hand and in a second the Raven snatched it and flew away. We watched its figure retreat along the horizon and disappear into the forest trees.

"That frightened me." Talia said as she drew in a deep breathe.

"It stole my charm." I stated.

"Im sorry."

"It's fine. It was just a little trinket. I just hope it doesn't choke on it or something." Talia nodded in agreement but still seemed to feel bad as she discussed buying a new one tomorrow as we walked back home.

Later in my bedroom I sat at my desk in the darkness of my room, drawing the Raven from memory in my notebook. I remember it had a very majestic and solemn figure and I tried to translate that into my drawing. As I drew I had the window open and the blinds pulled up and after awhile I hear a little tap tap. I ignored it at first but then it came again along with a flourish of wings. I put my notebook down and went to the window expecting to have to shoo off some pigeons but there was nothing there. As I went to close the window though I took notice of something shiny on the sill. It was a small gold ring. How it got there I had no clue but I picked it up and examined it. It looked old and heavily used but it was still quite pretty. I slipped it on my finger and it fit perfectly. I smiled and lay back on the bed. I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the ring on my finger.

"Found it on the window sill." I wrote. "Perhaps a gift from the Raven?" I smiled and put the phone down as I got ready for bed. At the time I had been joking. I didn't know I was right.