The Crow Playing The Piano

just some random story i came up with at the end of a day about a man going through his last moments in ww1.

Shots are hitting the edge of the trench, my heart begins to beat faster and faster, I feel like I’m going to vomit, my vision is getting blurry. The rain of copper slightly lightens with many of the German MGs reloading. The officer sees a crack in the wall and orders us to push the German trench; many of us hesitate to hesitate. Not sure if it’s sweat or just the rain dripping from my face. The riflemen vault the trench wall and we run towards and through hell only to be gunned down in seconds. I trip and fall into a pool of blood only to realize that it is my own and I have been shot. Was everything this cold or is it the bullet? I crawl behind a destroyed land ship and pull out a cigarette, but as I reach for my lighter I realize the bullet has gone through it. I lay my head back, the gunfire becomes more distorted and my vision darkens.

I awake in a strange heaven; it’s sunny, light breeze going through my hair and water going up to my ankle. It’s comforting yet I feel disturbed. A strange woman appears in front of me, she looks beautiful, and she’s wearing a lovely blue dress. I approach her and she turns to me, her face is blurry and lacks detail. I ask her “where am I?”, and she responds with “I don’t know, I was hoping those people knew”. I am confused and I tell her “I am the only other person here”, she giggles and says “look behind you”. I turn around with the sound of water splashing and see the men I served with. A strange man with the head of a crow appears and plays the piano, a soft tune, it’s relaxing, it’s nostalgic, but I can’t help but feel sad.

The officer from the battle approaches me and shakes my hand only for them to disappear in a blink of an eye. I am frightened, no, terrified. I hear the lady giggle, I turn to her but she’s gone. I turn back and the man with the crow’s head stands up leaving the piano and walks to me, but the music is still playing. When he arrives to me, he greets me. His voice echoes. I ask him “who are you?” he tells me “that is not the question you should be asking”. I think of what to say for a brief moment and ask “is this heaven or hell?” he smiles, the music stops, and tells me “that is the right question” he removes his head and underneath is the head of a dove with bloodied feathers, he extends his hand and tells me “it’s time to find an answer to your question” I reach for his hand and my vision gets blurry and I close my eyes one final time.