The Valley of Crows

The things Human Beings do for No Good Reason.

 

Oh, beauteous and raucous Crow. The Black Crow, with its hidden iridescent highlights of deep purples, greens and golds is an Intelligent, Talkative and Community oriented corvine. A Bird often associated with mystical and magical legends in which it is portrayed as a harbinger of Creation, and the unsubstantial Worlds between Potentialities and Realities. Crow is the Messenger. The Feathered Sentinel and Warning Call to be Alert - be Watchful - be Aware.

 

“I finally got it, Cheyenne !”

 

“What’s that, Jack ?” Cheyenne asked while standing on her tip-toes and giving her tall date a warm hug ’hello’.

 

“Get in the car, and we’ll drive down into the back of y’all’s place.”

 

“Hmmm, a Man of Mystery. Alright, you’ve got my full attention now. Let’s go.” With that, Cheyenne skirted around the front of Jack’s black Mustang, and slid into the passenger’s front seat.

Jack proudly revved-up the powerful engine in his car, and skidding into a half-donut sent dust and debris flying as the Mustang left the front of Cheyenne’s home, and flew down the rough earthen road leading to the back of her Family’s Land.

 

Jack came to a sudden and unexpected stop in the middle of a small Green Valley close to New Year’s Creek.

Cheyenne looked at Jack quizzically. “Why are you stopping here in the clearing. Don’t you want to go to our usual spot in the Woods along the Creek ? The Woods are beautiful right now. All of the Red Bud Trees are in bloom.”

 

“I’m not here for a Nature Walk, Cheyenne. I’ve got something important to show you. Something I’ve been waiting a long time to get my Hands on.”

 

“There are lots of things you’ve been wanting to get your Hands on, Jack. So, I’m not even going to try and guess what it is. Should I close my eyes and wait for you to surprise me ?”

Jack laughed, “That’s up to you. Although knowing you, you’ll peek anyway. You wait at the front of the car while I get It out of the trunk.”

 

Both Jack and Cheyenne got out of the Mustang, and while Jack headed to the trunk of his car, Cheyenne walked to the front of the Mustang patiently waiting for him to retrieve his Prize.

 

While Jack rattled around in the trunk, Cheyenne watched a large Flock of Black Crows land in unison all over the bottom of the Green Valley just a few feet from where she and Jack stood.

 

“Oh Jack, look ! They’re beautiful. Listen to them Talking to one another. My Uncle E.L. raised a Crow and taught it to do all sorts of tricks. They’re really quite Intelligent and Fascinating……”

 

“Bap, Bap, Bap, Bap, Ratty-Tat-Bap, Bap, Bap, Bap, Bap, Ratty-Tat-Bap, Bap, Bap, Bap…….”

 

Cheyenne almost jumped out of her skin. The next instant she found herself crouched and ducked behind the front bumper of Jack’s Mustang. “Jack ! Jack !”

 

As Cheyenne watched in shocked disbelief the frightened Crows burst into noisy flight. Here and there a Crow ruptured into a tumbling mass of scattering feathers as they dropped like stones to the ground.

 

She couldn’t see Jack. He was standing behind the raised lid of his car’s trunk.

 

Cheyenne sprang form her hiding place and ran to the back of the Mustang, just as another loud rapid fire sputter was shot at the startled and fleeing Crows. More Lifeless balls of black feathers hit the floor of the Green Valley.

 

“Jack ! Jack ! Stop It ! Stop firing the Gun !” Cheyenne yelled above the roar of the Machine Gun.

 

Jack lifted his finger from the trigger. He was smiling widely. His dark blue eyes sparkling with confident pleasure.

“Isn’t it a Beaut ! I bought it at the Gun Show outside of Bryan-College Station yesterday. It’s an Israeli Uzi.”

 

“Jack, why are you killing all of the Crows ? Why couldn’t you just drive to daddy’s target range over the next hill and shoot at some of our tin cans ?”

 

“What are you so upset about ? They’re just mangy old Birds. They’re just Crows.”

 

Cheyenne was flabbergasted. She Loved Jack. She had been dating him for over a year. But this…this…..

 

“Jack, the Crows are Living creatures. They have as much Right to Life as we do. They’re a Miracle of Life just as WE are. Why take Life for No Good Reason ? No Good Reason, Jack ?”

 

“I thought you’d be excited for me, Cheyenne. You know how long I’ve been looking for one of these. It’s all I’ve talked about.”

 

“Yes, that’s true. But I just thought that you were Wishing out loud. I never thought you were really serious about getting one, Jack. They’re illegal to have. How did you find one in the first place ?”

 

“I put the Word out and got in touch with some people who got in touch with some other people on the Black Market.”

 

“The Black Market ?! Oh for Pete’s sake, Jack. I can’t believe that you came to my Home just so I could Watch you Needlessly and Carelessly blow away these beautiful Birds with an illegal firearm.”

 

“Birds, who Innocently landed in this Green Valley to rest and pick up a few worms. Having no Idea that a deadly Machine Gun and a Trigger-Happy Human Being awaited them.”

 

“Why are you making such a Big Deal over a bunch of lice-ridden, pesky Crows, Cheyenne ? Really now, you’re being silly. You need to calm down and think about what you’re saying to me.”

 

“Jack, we’ve been dating for over a year now. You should know me better than this. You know I hate Violence.”

 

“But just shooting my Uzi at a bunch of useless Crows has nothing to do with Violence, Cheyenne. It’s Sport. Plain and simple Sport.”

 

“You call this Sport ? Sport ? This has very little to do with Sport and has everything to do with Violence, Jack. And the Attitudes and Actions which precipitate it. In fact, while I was Watching those Crows drop from the sky, I realized that this is what it’s like to be in a War Zone. And have something like that stupid Machine Gun blasting away at you from out of nowhere.”

 

“When I got up to yell at you to stop killing the Crows, twenty or more of them dropped dead before I could even catch my Breath while I was running around the car to you so you could hear me.”

 

“In seconds, all of those Crows lost their Lives. In Seconds.”

 

“Imagine that, Jack. Imagine being in a War Zone or on a sidewalk in some big city or in a schoolhouse or a movie theatre, and Watching hundreds of people drop like flies in Seconds.”

 

“If you had a regular hunting rifle like mine, you would’ve killed one or two Crows by the time I had gotten around the car to you. But with that multi-clipped Uzi - that Machine Gun - just look at how many Crows you killed in Seconds for No Good Reason, Jack. No Good Reason.”

 

“That’s what War and Violence with Machine Guns is like, Jack. Hundreds of people dying in Seconds for No Good Reason.”

 

“Just because some Human Beings think it’s alright to hurl hundreds of pieces of metal through the air to kill as many Living things as they can with one pull of a trigger, everyone and everything else suffers at the Hands of their Violence. Their Careless, Heartless, Mis-Guided Thoughts turned into Violent and Deadly Actions.”

 

“It’s crazy thinking, Jack. It’s crazy thinking that eventually makes the rest of the World Crazy.”

Cheyenne sighed. She was tired and Heartsick. “Jack, I’ve changed my Mind about going to the party this evening. You go on without me. I need some time alone.”

 

Jack felt shell shocked. His lips were tightly pursed as he quietly took the clip from his Uzi machine Gun, dismantled it, and carefully placed it beneath the green camouflage tarp in his trunk. He slammed his trunk lid down and stared wonderingly at Cheyenne. “Go ahead. Get in the car and I’ll drop you off at the House.”

 

“No, I’d rather stay here. You go on without me. Thank you for offering though,” Cheyenne answered gently.

 

“I’ll call you later tonight, Cheyenne.”

 

“Alright. Drive carefully, Jack.”

 

“Don’t I always ?” Jack and Cheyenne smiled shyly at one another.

 

Without another word, Jack slipped into his car and drove slowly down the bumpy earthen road leading off of Cheyenne’s Family’s Land, and on to the paved county road heading back to town. He continued to stare into his rear-view mirror waiting for some sign from Cheyenne to have him turn back around and pick her up.

 

Cheyenne stared after Jack and his crawling Mustang for a moment almost relenting, and then turning her back to them, she walked purposely and meditatively, for Many Good Reasons, toward the quiet Green Valley covered with fluttering mounds of dead Crows and blossoming Red Bud Trees.