The Darkwood

Chapter 2: The Scarecrow Man

In every small town there is at least one old man who walks the streets, sits at the park benches, looks in shop windows, and is generally seen everywhere around town; but no one really knows much about him. In Red Rock that man's name is Ivan Crow.

Upon outside observation, the people in Red Rock seem a bit strange to an outsider. Townsfolk look at any newcomer suspiciously, or as not-to-be trusted– like a mother bird might look at a snake. This could be said of many small towns, as privacy is valued. Local bars are sometimes the best examples of those suspicious feelings, as many a pub-fght has shown. In Red Rock however, it has always seemed even more pronounced. One could often observe "that suspicious look" being given to other members of the town– even between some that had been part of Red Rock for generations. It was almost as if they all shared some kind of secret or unsaid bond that created a kind of paranoia between the people. Despite that paranoia, for decades, Ivan had been wandering the streets and aging slowly in front of everyone's eyes as he walked around town.

Ivan's route took him down to the park, up to the main streets, and eventually back to where,

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people assumed if they thought about it, was his home. People did not give him the suspicious look– they just ignored him. They treated him almost like he was a vagrant, or a homeless person that they would rather not look at, or God forbid, think that he was part of their community. That being stated, the word "community" in Red Rock meant something very different than in any other town. The people of Red Rock held town meetings like everywhere else, but they seemed to go rather smoothly. No one was ever upset. No one ever proposed things that were wild and easily argued. All citizens seemed to be of the same mind when it came to the community, and the way the township progressed– or not progressed would have been more accurate. The status-quo in Red Rock could have been synonymous with stagnation. In the midst of all that strange behavior, Ivan Crow continued to make his rounds. He smiled at people who did not smile back. He said "hello" to the random child as they went by– and often got a smile in return from the child. The children seemed not to be effected by the "rudeness disease" as Ivan came to think of it. He would poke his nose into stores as if the shopkeeper would say "Hey Ivan! It's good to see you! What's doin' today?" But of course, that never happened. To anyone's knowledge, no one in town was even blood related to "that old man." Most of the townsfolk of Red Rock didn't even know his last name.

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Ivan Crow grew up in a larger city, New York in fact. His childhood was a normal childhood of anyone in the big city. He grew up with lots of people around that did not notice children because they were too busy with the hustle and bustle of business. Ivan didn't mind, as he was preoccupied with his business– being a child. He played in fre hydrants that had been opened on a hot summer day, and in the puddles the hydrants created in the streets. When Ivan was a child, there were not as many cars so he did not have to worry much about traffc. He did sometimes get the angry honk from a passing car as he played in the street. With his friends, he grew up an "All-American City Boy." When the Nazis decided to start burning their way across Europe, he signed up for the army and went to England to prepare for the invasion in World War II. His commanding offcers found he had an aptitude for fying, so they put him in an airplane. His call-sign was "blackbird," because of his last name, and because he liked it. In the end, Ivan Crow became the leader of his squadron. He was an ace– he always managed to sneak behind the enemy, and before the Luftwaffe knew he was there, they were down. That record always made him the "lucky leader," and everyone wanted to be part of his squadron. So "blackbird" ended the war with a plane covered in swastika stamps. When he returned home however, he found that