Clever Raven

The wind blows softly. Not a sound can be heard this early in the snow covered forest. A raven flies toward the nearest pine tree and lands on a branch. A mound of snow falls off the branch crashing to the ground below slamming into the ground with a defining “Whomp”. The raven stares ahead, squinting her eyes slightly looking off toward the sunrise. The sun which has just barely peaked over the horizon is slowly creeping its tendrils toward the tree that the raven is sitting in. She opens her wings and shakes them, getting rid of the small layer of snow that had gathered there before once again taking flight toward the moors.

A small field mouse has crawled out of it hole, twitching its small pert nose slightly. Too late it glances upwards as the raven dives catching the mouse and crushing it within its strong feet. The raven sets down the mouse and swallows it in one swift gulp. The clever raven shakes her feathers proudly, nothing can outrun her. She glances up toward the sun which has now climbed farther into the sky illuminating the majority of the forest. A small plume of smoke in the distance catches the raven's eye. She cocks her head attempting to identify to source of the flame at such a distance. When she's unable to do so she takes off flying toward the column insuring that she keeps a safe enough distance to avoid any potential hazard.

As she nears the source of the smoke she spots a wooden cabin.There is a man outside of the cabin, standing near the base of a fire holding a small pan. The man removes the lid of the pan and inside is what appears to be pieces of bacon. The raven’s stomach growls. Although she's just eaten the sight of the bacon is much too alluring for her to leave it alone. She flies down toward the roof of the cabin and perches herself on the edge. She hears the man call to a woman around the corner. “Don’t let Jackie run off too far or we might never find him” He stops, waiting for a response. When he doesn't get one he stands up moving the pan of bacon over to a stump not a meter away from the fire. He jogs off around the corner towards where the woman was, calling her name.

The bacon is sitting on the stump, perfect for the taking. The smell of the food drifts downwind toward the raven. She flies down to the ground and slowly hops toward the log where the pan is sitting. The bacon although not fully cooked is still sizzling in the pan. The raven gets just within snatching distance of the bacon then suddenly, from behind, the raven hears footstep. She turns around to see a husky sprinting toward her. Distracted by the bacon, she hadn't heard him coming from downwind until now. As she flaps her wings to take flight the husky grabs ahold of her foot pulling her to the ground and slamming her into the snow. The husky tears at her wings staining the snow next to the fire red with blood.

The man stomps through the snow carrying a bag. He’s taken all the dead raven bits he found his husky, Jackie, chewing on away from the campsite and out into the woods. He dumps the remains far away from the camp and covers them with snow as best as he can. As the sun rises the next morning another raven flies down from the trees above and begins to peck at what's left of the clever raven.