Harbinger

This is the second last story of this specific collection. It's the first story in the book, and I'm not entirely sure why I didn't post the stories in order. Probably because this story doesn't make a lot of sense without the last story, which will be posted tomorrow.  As always, comments and feedback are always appreciated.

Two crows flapped slowly across the steel gray sky, their rough calls tearing the silence apart. They landed in one of the many spindly trees that bordered the field, crowding together, two dark leaves on a barren tree. The silence fell once more, like a curtain at the end of the day.

                They had come for a reason. Below them lay a girl, unmoving, her long dark hair tangled with leaves and twigs, her tanned legs covered in mud and scratches. She lay as though she had been tossed there, lying spread eagled over the uneven ground. Two beaded bracelets circled her wrist, one eccentrically made by someone who clearly had no respect for patterns and a deep love of all colours, and the other an intricate design of red and yellow-gold.

                One of the crows flew to the ground. It eyed the girl suspiciously, and cawed. When the girl didn’t move, it hopped closer, it’s bright eyes gleaming with hunger. It hopped up to the girls out-flung arm and pecked her, it’s sharp beak drawing forth a bright drop of blood.

                The girl sat up with a gasp, startling the crow into flight. She watched it fly away, followed closely by the other. She rubbed her eyes and brushed the stray hairs out of her face. She didn’t seem particularly surprised to find herself sleeping underneath a tree, or of the numerous scratches on her arms and legs.  Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, however, when she saw the two bracelets on her wrist. She untied the rainbow one and rolled it back and forth in her palm.

                “She went back on it!” She hissed. “I cannot believe her! It was her idea, too.” She closed her fingers around the bracelet, her nails digging into the flesh of her palm. She stood up and tried to brush the dirt from her shorts and tank-top, but to no avail.

                She could remember the day that they’d made that promise. Her cousins worried eyes, the hot sun, and the heavy sense of losing something forever. She always thought that she’d lost the little corner of her world that was full of magic. Now she knew that it was really her cousin that she’d lost. This day had been coming for a long time.

                She headed away from the field, her direction sure.  The bracelet was only a harbinger of what was to come, she was certain of it. A broken promise was about to be the least of her worries.

Also, I got accepted to Georgian college today! It's not my first choice, but it's only the first day that they're accepting anything, so it's pretty awesome!

Good day!