24 Jul Totem – Silence in the grass

Trish walked through the overgrowth… I could tell she was having a moment, a childhood memory:

“An injured crow in the grass near the field,” she recalled. “Blood was stark against its shiny blackness. My heart ached for it.”

The memory continued to swirl:

“Mom!” Trish called out, rushing into the kitchen. “There’s a crow in the grass, it’s hurt! What should I feed it?”

“Bread should help,” her mom replied. “But you’ll need to run to the store to get a loaf. Can you do that?”

Trish nodded and dashed down the lane to the market.

When she returned, the crow was gone.

“It must have gotten better and flown away,” her mom said. Trish was confused.

In the afternoon, the neighbour’s dog got loose. It ran over to visit Trish, and she petted it. The dog was so excited that he knocked over the garbage can; trash was thrown across the gravel laneway. In the debris, she saw the dead crow wrapped in a paper bag.

Just then, her mother came outside, and Trish looked back at her. Their gaze met in silence.

~CJ~