THE RAVEN

 

Fading in and out of consciousness. Heartbeat pounding in your head, blood rushing in your ears, trying to see through half-shut eyes. It’s all hazy, but you sense movement turning into shapes. A big, dark bird perches on what you can only guess is a tree. You blink rapidly to clear your foggy senses & the scene becomes visible. A raven is sitting on a bare tree, its branches like twisted fingers silhouetted against the pale sky. You try to lean in closer to see what it’s grasping in its claws. Whatever it is gleams in the dimming daylight as dusk approaches. 

The raven reaches its beak down towards its prize and suddenly you are overcome with the strangest sensation, as if you left your body. The somber bird takes flight, heading for the skies and then stops. It drops the bone which hurtles at a fantastic velocity straight to the hard ground. The raven floats down to inspect its handiwork. Seeming satisfied, it pries its way into the freshly splintered crack. Unable to reach far enough, the murky creature repeats its flight above to let go once more. You lay there wondering why you feel as if the fabric of your body has been separated into 206 individual pieces. The question you should be asking yourself is, why can I not move even a muscle? Meanwhile, the raven is back again forcing its way deep into the fissure straight until it reaches the marrow. Your body is racked by unspeakable hurt as you tremble from fear. If you had been able to lift your head, you would have seen the raven, the tree, the sky - everything turn to dust and blow away as if nothing was ever there. In that blank space your prone figure remains. Stars swim before your eyes and the last hint of light disappears, leaving what’s left of your tortured soul in total darkness.