She Never Believes Me

She never believes me. But you will, won’t you? Please tell me you’ll listen. Well, everyone in town is scared of it – the crow, I mean. It’s pretty big for a crow. Its wings are the size of my arms (chuckles). But whenever I see it, I get a shiver down my spine. It’s an awful feeling. Like that feeling when you did something horrible, yeah, that one. Well, anyways, I was out playing with my friend, Jimmy – his name is Jim but everyone calls him Jimmy, Jim’s too formal for him. So, I saw it and that creeping feeling came back like it always does. I wasn’t the only one who saw it either. The whole town stopped to look at it. The reason being is that it belonged to Old Man Winter. You don’t know who Old Man Winter is? (Laughs) I gotta say I’m really surprised to hear that! I guess I can tell you who he was then, can’t I? Old Man Winter lived on a hill by the edge of town with his wife. They didn’t have kids; at least I don’t think so. One day his wife mysteriously died. Everyone knew it was him, even though he didn’t admit it. So, the police charged him with murder and he was put to death. I can’t remember whether he was hung or forced to drink poison but it doesn’t matter.

The point is that he died. Huh? I’m sorry. How is the crow involved? Why, you don’t know anything do ya? I guess I’ll tell ya that too. The crow – nobody knows its name – was Old Man Winter’s only pet – his only friend. That crow was with him everyday until he died. Now, without a home the crow just flies around town. No one will take it because they know it belonged to Old Man Winter. It’s a shame really. A real shame. But that’s not the only reason no one likes the crow. The other is that whoever sees the crow first…dies. It’s true! It happened to the Marley’s and the O’Reilley’s and the Dunkats! All their boys died…or it was someone they knew. All I know is that they found a black feather on the body. Today, I was the first person to see it.

So, just to let you know, I may be killed in a few minutes or seconds. I don’t mind if I go as long as anyone that I know doesn’t die. That would be horrible! Let me tell you something, my greatest fear is losing someone I love. Whether it’s my mama or my friend Jimmy. I already lost my papa to cancer and my little sister to a runaway horse. I don’t want anymore death in my life. Not now, especially not now. You know I just heard my mama got offered a place at the university here in town. Which I think is wonderful! She can learn a trade like blacksmithing or something…I don’t think being a blacksmith would work out well for her (laughs, sighs, hears thunder). I like the rain, don’t you? I used to play in it every time with Jimmy. Speaking of Jimmy, I wonder where he is. He promised to be right over.