A Crow's Call

• Elly Sciberras, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2020

Mama! I don't want to be late for school! I stormed out the door and turned the birch wood knob, then took a step forward into the house to pick up the last bit of warmth from the burning orange fireplace resting in the lounge room. Finally I stepped outside and stared at the sky and saw dancing elephants and a majestic flock of crows. Snap! it all went away. There were no more dancing elephants or majestic crows... there was just reality.

Then I saw it! My Tiffany blue bicycle glistening in the sun. I ran over to it, the morning dew lay on the grass like a thick quilt. The parallel street was an outstretch of houses. Then suddenly a crow flew down, in a calm formation onto the seat of my bike. It was holding something, which was pointy and yellow, that I'd never seen before. It couldn't be what I thought it was, it couldn't be a star. The beautiful figure dropped onto the grass, where it lay in the morning dew. The star beamed with delight. Before long the star began to grow weary and grey. It lay on the grass as if the star had been drained from life, and then disintegrated into thin air.

The crow looked at me like I was the culprit. It waddled towards me, then perched on my shoulder, its feathers ruffled in the wind as he stretched out his wings and began to take flight. But the crow knew something that I didn't. That I was the culprit to the last star's death.