The Messenger Bird

That note was overpowering. I recall the inevitable discomfort it delivered. My stomach sank as I scanned the image before me. "It can't be" I spoke to myself "It can't be".

Earlier that day, I was resting in an old creaky chair, that seemed to struggle to support my weight. The rest of my house was similar in quality, for it endured several years of wear and tear. As I relaxed in my chair I was accompanied by only my cup of coffee and my newspaper.

A familiar fluttering noise echoed through the room. The flapping of wings had dissipated. My eyes followed the rotting wood floor to the fading blue paint on the walls. Slowly my gaze pushed its way to an accustomed sight. It was a crow standing in the window sill, carrying with it my mail for the day.

However, this crow resembled nothing close to an ordinary bird. I had trained this crow, to be my messenger, he delivered my mail from the mailbox, and delivered letters I had wished to send. Along with his ability to allow me to indulge in sloth, he also kept me company, for I seldom had guests over. I stretched out of my chair and was greeted with an early morning piney scent. I made my way over to the sill and picked up the mail. As I gathered my letters, I noticed something peculiar.

I remembered soon that it was a Sunday. Mail never arrived on Sundays. I recaptured that I had received mail the following day before, so I thought it was a bit odd that mail had come on a Sunday. I just brushed the oddity aside however and didn't really think much of it. After tumbling through the mail I found nothing more than a couple coupons and some advertisements. I ventured my way to the trash and was on the verge of discarding my letters when I was shocked by something.

I somehow had overlooked an envelope. I decided to inspect the peculiar looking letter and discovered very little normality about it. It had a black coloring to it which differed from any envelope I had before seen, there was no address on it, and really nothing I could recognize.

My eyes swiftly were directed to the juxtaposing bright red seal, it read the words "ales est diabolus corvus". I was baffled by the phrase and had no clue as to what it resembled. The picture on the seal was rather unsettling as I recognized a pitchfork over what appeared to be a pool of blood. I overcame my mixed feelings and began to quickly rip open the envelope.

The paper inside emitted a terrible odor, and looked rather aged. I covered my nose and read what had been written. The message was vague and intriguing it said "The father rests on Sundays but I do not". This had baffled me. I began to ponder what it had meant, but soon noticed something. The seal had "diabolus" written on it, this word meant devil in Latin. I quickly ran to my computer, eager to translate the phrase, but before I could my crow had been chirping for me.

I looked over and he held yet another letter in his talons. I noticed the letter covered in that recognizable black coating. I slowly unwrapped the note and it read "join us in hell". This seemed to be a bit frightening and I felt rather unsafe at this time. Before discarding the note, my crow arrived with three more envelopes.

I was startled, all had the same black coating, and I questioned whether or not to open them. My curiosity overpowered my sense to reason. I once again felt uneasy as I snatched the notes. Reluctant to open, my eyes were familiar with the same exact seal. As I unfolded the note, there was no writing, it was just a bland white sheet of paper. Then I noticed a texture on the back of the letter. I turned over the note and I saw a picture.

At first it appeared to be a simple frame of my family at the dinner table, but then I looked closer. I noticed the picture being taken from outside the house and through a window, I had never seen this picture before, and it was unclear who had taken it. The image depicted a long dark shadow reaching from outside over the dinner table as we ate. I remembered this moment, but I had no memory of any photo being taken.

The next envelope looked no different from the last, as I opened it I noticed once again it was a picture. I was startled as I flew back. What I had seen had disgusted me. A few years back my brother had gone missing and he was never discovered. This event occurred following my mother's death, many of us believed he had killed himself due to the close bond he shared with our mother.

Anyways, the picture that I held in my hand, that my eyes gazed upon, was an image of his severed head lying next to a tree in the woods. Paralleling the last image there was a dark shadow sitting over his head. I turned and dropped the notes, I had to figure out what the term on the seal was.

As I navigated to Google translate, I typed in the words praying for it to be nothing threatening. I soon discovered what the phrase meant and may have been better, not reading it. The phrase translated to "The crow is the bird of the Devil.". Things began to be more clear, someone was pulling a sick prank and trying to scare me, but could this be the murderer of my brother? I wasn't sure.

I decided it would be best for me to open the last letter. I walked over to the pile, but before picking up the last note, my eyes jumped back to the picture of my family eating at the dinner table. I was startled by a vague reflection in the window. I made out the face, and it was my mother, standing next to her my brother. I decided this wasn't too odd, but then I looked at the time stamp, it read "December 12th 2012". The photo was taken two years following the death of my brother and mother. I also gazed closer and saw them holding no camera in their reflection.

I then picked up the other photo, and soon realized I had never checked the back of it. my sweaty palms flipped the image over to see Erie writing. It read "The moment my first son joins me." This completely scared me. and I had to sit and think. The crow being the devil's messenger, was it some sick prank, or did it mean something. Was this bird my messenger or was I receiving a message from hell.

I had to open the last envelope. My fear was inescapable but so was my curiosity. As my trembling hands picked up the last note I was worried for my life. I sluggishly peeled open the envelope and my quivering hands tried their best to pull the image out.

That note was overpowering. I recall the inevitable discomfort it delivered. My stomach sank as I scanned the image before me. "It can't be" I spoke to myself "It can't be".

The picture, was an image of myself, standing just as I was, reading this very note. It was as if the picture had been taken of me this very moment. I noticed the absence of any dark shadow in the picture, but saw a smirk message at the bottom of the picture that said "turn it over." My heart racing, I flipped the picture and my shaking eyes did their best to decode the text.

It read "The moment my second son joins me". Filled with fear I turned the picture over again, and noticed a reflection of both my mother and brother in the window, but quickly I noticed something more. Daylight had evaded me. there was a growing shadow reaping from behind. My head swiftly turned, and there I found the owner of this shadow it was my mother, and she spoke "Join us in hell."