Different

The Raven and the Crow

There was once a raven who was different from the rest.
Unlike most of his brothers however, this particular raven was white.
They named him Herm, short for hermit, since nobody wanted him.
The other ravens laughed at Herm all the time.
Unlike his brothers, Herm can't hunt well at night without being seen.
His white feathers glistened, and mice and insects always see the glint.
"Look at him!" a raven declared while bursting out laughing.
"He tries so hard!" Another screamed while in joyful bliss.
Herm ignored them and tried to catch the insects, but he fails. Their laughter is much too distracting, and much too painful.
He slams into a tree, disoriented, and falls into the ground with a thud.
"Slamming into a tree hurts less than this." He says as he listens to their laughter.
As the ravens laughed, a crow took interest in the shiny glint of Herm's feathers.
The crow promised herself that one day she'll meet this raven while he is alone.

As Herm was flying to get something to eat one day, a black blur caught his vision.
Like a hawk, the blur descended from the skies, breaking leaves as it dived.
Herm quickly evaded the talons, and immediately began to fly as fast as he could.
He circled trees, and went into bushes, yet the black blur kept tailing him.
Finally, the blur was too fast and too near, it caught Herm by his neck.
"Hawk! Don't eat me!" he screamed to the black bird in front of him.
"I would if I wanted too, but cannibalism isn't really my style." the bird responded.
Herm opened a single eye, and saw the most beautiful crow he's ever seen.
She loosened her grip allowing Herm to recover.
"How'd you catch me, I was hiding in bushes and flying fast!" He wondered.
The crow tilted her neck sideways in response.
"Well, your shiny feathers aren't really good camouflage." she replied.
Herm spread his wings and looked at his feathers in disgust.
"I hate my feathers! They make my life harder than it already is." he declared.
The crow did not respond. She was only entranced by the glint of Herm's feathers.
"Oh, it's because crows love shiny things." Herm said.
"Well, that and because I feel bad for you." she replied.
"Good, pity the outcast, that makes me feel so much better." Herm replied.
"What's wrong with being white?" asked the crow.
"I'm a raven, I hunt at night, white fur makes me stand out when I don't want to."
The crow simply tilted her head.
"I have an idea." she said gleefully,

The crow's nest was almost done when she came back with a mouse on her mouth.
Her idea? She hunts while Herm supply her nest with shiny feathers.
"This has got to be the stupidest thing I agreed to." Herm told her.
"But it's not." she replied and she adorned her nest with more of Herm's feathers.
"See, you're useful, maybe not to a lot of birds, but you are." she says.
A spark of hope fluttered in Herm's heart. She really thinks Herm is useful.
This crow slowly became Herm's greatest friend, and his lover.

Herm didn't even the humans come when they did, but it was over when he came back.
The snowfall chilled his bone, and apparently the ravens and crows thought it would be a good idea to stay in human attics.
They were wrong.
In hours, the exterminators arrived, caging all ravens and crows they could find.
Herm circled above the human town, hoping to see the crow he loved.
Near a human camp, Herm saw a cage full of crows.
They squawked in sheer terror as the humans began poking them with an hot iron.
Herm had  have two choices.
1. fight them head on and die.
2. be sneaky.
Herm chose number 2, mainly because he didn't want to die.
As quietly as he could he unlocked the bird cage while the humans had their back turned.
A cloud of darkness began to envelope the town as the giant cage burst open with murders and murders of crows.
But one crow remained. The crow Herm loved.
When she saw Herm she squawked in delight.
"Don't worry I'm getting you out of here." Herm said.
"My wing-" she said as she glanced at her wing.
The wing was burned bad by the hot iron.
No way she was flying anytime soon.
Herm had an idea.
He carried her by her neck as gently as he could and flew as fast as he can.
The hunters saw Herm and began shooting pellets of plastic, not enough to kill, but enough to injure.
Herm dodged as many as he could but he was tiring.
They hit one of his feathers, and he watched at the feather slowly drift into the snow, disappearing completely as if it was invisi-
"That's it!" Herm cried in delight.
He tucked in his wings as the crow, surprised, tucked her wing too.
She knew what Herm was planning.
They hit the snow with a *spoof* and Herm used his body to cover the crow's.
His white feather blended perfectly with the snow. The hunters were confused.
Minutes passed and the hunters began to leave.
Herm flew over to the nearby tree where a murder of crows waited for him.
They cheered for him as loudly as they could, the forest filled with the squawk of a hundred crows.
Then he heard another squawking.
Still, in the middle of the camp, lay another cage full of ravens.
"You could abandon them. They never loved you." The crow said.
"Family is family, no matter how much they hate me, or I hate them." Herm replied.
He flew as close to the ground as he can, and with one upward swoop, unlatched the cage, his raven siblings forming yet another dark cloud.

When they had all settled, the ravens approached Herm.
"We're sorry you had to save us like that. And for treating you like garbage." The eldest raven apologized.
The other ravens murmured in agreement.
"Hey, maybe being different isn't such a bad thing after all." Herm replied to his brothers.
"Now I can hunt mice in the snow perfectly, and you feel my pain. We're even."
The ravens murmured in agreement again.
He took to the skies, carrying his beloved crow.
"Thanks for believing in me." Herm said.
"I knew you'd do good things." she said.
Together they tucked their wings and dived in between the group of crows and ravens, screaming in the sheer joy of their great rescue.

Author's Note

Childish story from a childish mind. Leave a review if ya like it!

Reviews

[Shy Joe]

An ugly duckling that is not a duck, and not ugly. I don't have much to say on your write other than I read it from beginning to end and enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.