ball

After a short walk, the unease within me had slightly faded. I tried to calm myself without paying too much attention to what Lia had said.

"I don't think there's a problem," I said, though the uncertainty in my voice was obvious. The disappearance of the crows had brought some relief, but that strange feeling still lingered inside me.

As I quickened my steps, my hand went to my pocket. I felt the feather the crow had left behind. Keeping it with me gave me a strange sense of comfort, but at the same time, it felt like I was hiding something. I couldn't fully grasp what it was. I only knew I was blowing things out of proportion.

Or maybe I just wanted to believe that.

I paused for a moment and took the feather out, rolling it between my fingers. Did it really mean anything? I didn't think so. I knew everything was probably simple. The crows, the mountain... none of it was extraordinary enough to affect me. At least, that's how I saw it. Still, I couldn't shake off the unease inside me. Like everything else, this too shall pass, right?

Lia looked at the feather in my hand.

"A crow feather?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Given our current situation, that's pretty ironic. Where did that come from?"

"This morning, a crow came to my door. It dropped this feather, and I just picked it up." I spoke while twirling the feather in my hand.

She looked a bit uneasy—it was obvious from her face.

"So... do you think it's a sign?" she asked, not leaving my side. I expected her to step away.

"I think we're just overreacting." I was still thinking about what she'd said.

As I put the feather back into my pocket, my eyes shifted to Lia. She was still talking, but I didn't know how much attention I was giving her. My thoughts were a bit scattered.

"Maybe not everything is that complicated," I mumbled to myself.

Trying to gather my thoughts again, I turned to Lira's earlier words and said,

"There's probably nothing. I mean, everything's in its place. Maybe we're just worrying for no reason."

Even though I said that, the uneasiness inside me remained.

As we approached the village, something caught my attention. A crow was perched on the log by the entrance.

I cursed internally—I was getting sick of seeing so many crows.

Lira moved closer to me, and my masculine instincts kicked in. I started walking ahead and perked up my ears, cautiously approaching.

It felt like the crow was waiting for us. Its eyes glinted, and it began pecking at the tree branch with its beak.

I leaned forward to watch closely. The crow was striking the branch with strong hits, and with each strike, its beak wobbled slightly. The force of the hits was enough to damage the bark.

Lia stopped immediately and started mocking the crow.

"What, do you think you're a woodpecker now?" she said with a slightly mocking tone.

She seemed relieved, probably because nothing bad had happened yet.

Her eyes were fixed on the crow's strange behavior, but the bird didn't care and kept pecking. Its feathers had stiffened like needles. As Lira made her joke, the crow's strikes grew fiercer. After a few blows, its beak started to bleed lightly.

Lia stared at the crow in shock.

"Wow, you're really aggressive," she said, though her mocking tone had vanished.

The crow kept hitting the tree like it would never stop. With each strike, it looked more worn out.

Eventually, Lia couldn't take it anymore and grabbed the crow.

She was holding it to keep it from hurting itself. We waited a bit for it to calm down.

I eventually got bored.

"Wouldn't it be better if we just let it be? Maybe it was trying to die."

"But it looks like it needs help," she said.

Lia was holding the crow tightly, and I gave her a sarcastic look.

"I don't look like a crow doctor, do I?" I said with a slight smile.

Lira smiled back, but still didn't seem ready to let the bird go.

"Maybe I am a crow expert," she said without losing her serious tone.

There was a hint of amusement in her eyes, but the crow in her hands kept trembling, as if something was definitely wrong.

We fell silent. I slipped back into my thoughts again.

"Something really must be wrong," I said more seriously this time.

There had to be another reason for the crow's strange behavior.

I rolled my eyes and stood there a bit impatiently.

Lira was still holding the crow, but I wanted to speak now, slightly annoyed.

"How long are you going to hold onto that thing?" I asked with a mocking tone.

Lira smiled but didn't answer.

We stood there for a while, both watching what the crow would do.

Then, quicker than I expected, the crow bit Lira's hand.

She screamed in shock and tried to pull her hand away, but the crow escaped quickly and started flapping its wings toward the tree again.

I quickly moved to Lira.

"You better let it go," I said and held her to stop her from grabbing the bird again.

Lira looked at the crow with a mix of anger and surprise. There was a bit of fear in her eyes.

She decided not to try catching it again.

The crow's feathers and beak were stained with blood, though the wound seemed to have stopped bleeding.

Its eyes had taken on a strange color. When I saw those eyes, I felt an unease growing inside me.

Everything suddenly felt off.

The crow's behavior wasn't normal, but I felt powerless to do anything about it.

"Let's head into the village," I said, though I struggled to get the words out.

Lira hesitated, still staring at the crow.

We stood there for a few seconds, the sound of the crow pecking the tree echoing in our ears.

Each strike made it clearer that something was wrong.

Finally, I managed to convince Lia.

"Come on, let's get out of here. That's enough."

Lira's eyes were still locked on the crow and the tree, but eventually, she nodded.

"Okay, but that wasn't normal at all," she said.

The crow's strange behavior and the odd glint in its eyes kept bothering me.

We took a few steps and moved toward the village entrance.

Still, the sound of the crow pecking at the tree kept ringing in my ears.

At that moment, all I could do was feel that something was wrong.

When we arrived at the village, everything was silent.

It looked like a normal village, like always.

But the unease inside me kept growing the more I thought about the crow's behavior.

Still, I didn't want to scare Lia further, so I decided not to press it.

We decided to leave the crow and the strange events behind—but I knew something was missing.

My thoughts wouldn't settle, but for now, I knew I had to focus on the peace of the village.

As we moved forward, the village's atmosphere felt increasingly strange.

I'd always felt something was missing here, but this time, it was more distinct.

The village wasn't big, everything was close together, but the silence had thickened so much that with every step, the sense that something was wrong grew stronger.

I could feel something silent and unseen waiting in every corner.

Lira moved closer to me, quickening her pace slightly—she seemed a bit frightened.

Her eyes scanned the empty surroundings, but nothing seemed visibly out of place.

Still, the silence was becoming more oppressive by the second.

As my eyes wandered across the village, an unease settled deeper in me.

"This silence…" I muttered, my voice low and a little anxious.

Lira looked at me for a moment.

"I don't know... but it's strange," she said and stepped closer, placing her hands on my shoulders.

The houses, the fields—everything in the village still looked the same.

But something was missing—something was off.

Where were the people?

Why were the usual voices and chatter gone?

Why had everyone disappeared?