More Fractured Tales stories!
It started just about dawn… perhaps a little earlier… or later… she felt like it was around that time… though the dark, heavy clouds overhead made it difficult to be certain.
Laying her coffee mug on the table, she was about to sit down when…from the corner of her eye… she thought she saw something… a shadow that moved swiftly past her window… and went to look outside.
At first it was just one… one solitary black winged creature… gliding down for a smooth landing on the edge of a heavy Plexiglass fence… that surrounded the front of the building on the other side of the lake.
But that was not unusual… no big deal… nothing to be concerned about… just a bird looking for a resting place.
Crows weren’t really a bad omen…right?
She had seen them there before and felt only mild curiosity… wondering what had drawn them to the area… perhaps something in the lake… or nearby.
Ten minutes later things began to change… when the first creature was joined by a second one… but even that wasn’t strange… could be a pair… maybe male and female.
Then another one soared in… and landed silently on top of a concrete post.
Still, three birds sitting on a fence… as if they were on guard… was not unusual… not really.
Not until another one joined the first trio… then another… and another… and they continued to come… occupying the fence and posts… the trees inside the fence… and the roof of the building itself.
One after another, they kept coming… gathering in groups of varying sizes… according to the size of their landing place.
Finally, every lofty perch within the scope of her vision was inhabited… filled to capacity with these black winged creatures… just sitting there… silent… and motionless, except for the occasional flap of a wing.
It was vaguely reminiscent of an old Alfred Hitchcock movie… and she began to feel slightly uneasy… but these were larger than starlings.
They looked like crows and… crows didn’t attack people… but then again… starlings had not sent shivers up anyone’s spine… not until the release of Hitchcock’s movie in 1963.
Now, people often pause to think when large numbers of them gather in one place.
That’s the power of suggestion… and sometimes it can feel very real.
Her sense of unease increased… just a little bit… and she tried to tell herself it was nonsense.
There was no possibility that these birds would go into a frenzy… and begin to attack… was there?
And then she heard it…
The first crow began its vocalization and then… as the others joined in… the sound increased in volume until it became almost deafening… as they fought for a share of whatever was inside that fence.
Instead of physically attacking her… they were trying to drive her crazy with their loud, angry voices.
She huddled in the armchair… clutching a pillow tightly around her ears… and wondered again how much more she could take.
