Ol' Flint the Crow

Flint's Tale pt. 1

...You must understand, Mr. Samuel, that Tabitha was not always like this. When I first met her, she was a sweet little girl who I adored so very much. She brought me out of one of the darkest moments of my life.

My friend Edvrick was dead, and I wondered the lands aimlessly like a dumb animal. Through forest and plans, no thoughts entered my mind. I had returned my primitive state, before the surgery that gave me the ability to speak in the human tongue. Not even a normal animal would have acted as lifeless as I was behaving then. My head was numb from the pain of losing Edvrick the Sylph; the one who had saved me from the accursed wizard.

Retreating back to my animal brethren, I discovered how much I had changed. The creatures shunned me, sensing my oddness that flowed out of me like a plague. They would have nothing to do with me. I was truly alone in my depressed state. Life was meaningless and had lost its pleasure now that Edvrick was gone.

No longer caring about my safety, I was caught in a human hunter's snare. I didn't even bother to fight back. The hunter sold me to a pet shop like any other speechless beast.

Now in a bird cage, I became weak... frail. My feathers began to fall from my body. The food given to me didn't satisfy so I stopped eating. Sleep was pointless as bags formed underneath my dreary eyes. The weeks in captivity felt like years to me as I lost weight and slowly deteriorated. The owner of the shop began to force feed me, fearing that I would die. But soon he gave up hope and left me to my anguish. To him, I was not worth the trouble, and I didn't blame him.

I wanted to die! I longed for death. It's not like I was a young bird either. In animal years, I was about middle age. But the lord of the underworld had yet to take me. That would not happen until much later.

This is when Tabitha visited the store. The owner, whose name was Pine, bowed low to the king and queen. They were shopping with their beloved daughter to find her a pet worthy of their class. Thinking he would make a fortune selling to royalty, Pine displayed his finest creatures to Tabitha's parents. While they did this, the girl strolled down the rows of cages filled with exotic creature. Her small face lit up brighter after every animal she came in contact with. Seeing a radiant peacock with its multicolored feathers extending on the bars of the cage, Tabitha's petite nose scrunched up in delight.

I didn't think much of her and barely even bothered to pay much attention until she looked straight at me. Noticing my pitiful state, Tabitha's eyebrows lowered. She stared at me in compassion. Grabbing a handful of birdseed, the girl offered it to me in between the bars of my cell.

"Hey little guy," she said pleasantly. Slowly moving the food closer to me, Tabitha asked, "Are you alright fella? You look tried. Come! Eat some. It will give you strength. You certainly need it."

At that moment, something was awakening inside of me. The darkness in my mind was lifting as I waddled towards her. Desiring to eat, I gulped it down ravenously.

"There you go!" Tabitha cheerfully exclaimed as she dusted the crumbs from her hand. "Are you satisfied now? What's your name?"

My brain promptly told me to speak. However, my lips were weak from lack of verbal communication. Wincing ever so slightly, I fought away the discomfort and spoke for the first time in a month.

"Flint..." I said in a frail whisper.

Her face stirred as she realized a human sounding voice was coming out of a common crow. Turning her head around to see if anyone else had heard, Tabitha became excited; she couldn't believe her ears. She had never seen a talking animal before. Only in fiction had she read about this.