I stumbled into the alley, leaving a bloody trail with every step.
It looked even longer, and darker, than before. Crows swarmed the desolate corridor, cawing and hopping excitedly among the rusting dumpsters and scattered garbage. I didn’t need to speak their language to know their cause for celebration.
A distant thunder shook the blacktop at my feet. It seemed I was to be graced with one last rainstorm. A final shower to douse whatever fire I had left.
The crows seemed unperturbed by the chance for rain. They only loomed over me, calming in unison, as I took my first steps. I could feel them, their eyes on me. They bore holes in my weakening body with famished stares and poisoned it with a venomous silence. A haunting quietude that could push a man to scream if only to break it for a moment’s peace.
In fact, that’s exactly what I did. As I walked, I looked back at them on their perches, screaming with what little breath I had left. I turned to the birds on their fire escapes and window ledges, shouting at them to leave me. I’d swing an arm and lurch at them, when I could. Not one of them flinched, like they’d anticipated it.
It looked even longer, and darker, than before. Crows swarmed the desolate corridor, cawing and hopping excitedly among the rusting dumpsters and scattered garbage. I didn’t need to speak their language to know their cause for celebration.
A distant thunder shook the blacktop at my feet. It seemed I was to be graced with one last rainstorm. A final shower to douse whatever fire I had left.
The crows seemed unperturbed by the chance for rain. They only loomed over me, calming in unison, as I took my first steps. I could feel them, their eyes on me. They bore holes in my weakening body with famished stares and poisoned it with a venomous silence. A haunting quietude that could push a man to scream if only to break it for a moment’s peace.
In fact, that’s exactly what I did. As I walked, I looked back at them on their perches, screaming with what little breath I had left. I turned to the birds on their fire escapes and window ledges, shouting at them to leave me. I’d swing an arm and lurch at them, when I could. Not one of them flinched, like they’d anticipated it.