One for Sorrow

One for sorrow

Two for mirth

Three for a death

Four for a birth

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret that should never be told

Crackling flames licked at the tinder and branches of the oak tree outside. A single crow peered through the window, illuminated by the firelight. Alice wondered if he was warming himself away from the cool, harsh breeze. A single tear slipped down her cheek, it was one of those days. She turned to the next page of Pride and Prejudice and started reading again. When she reached the bottom of the page, Alice realised she had not been paying attention, so she started the page again. After two repeats of this, she closed the book and laid it gently on the coffee table in front of the fire. A pop sounded from a log in the flames. “Might as well go for a walk.” She got up from her comfortable floral armchair, and grabbed her $300 Totême winter coat. A nice steaming mug of chai tea was in need.

Outside, snow covered the tops of everything, turning the world into a blank wall, waiting for a toddler to come along and add some colour. The toddler in question was Mavis, the wonderful old lady who ran the florist shop just outside Alice’s apartment complex. “A beautiful bouquet of Aconite flowers for the lovely Alice!” Unable to turn down the offer, Alice walks over to the shop, and grabs the bouquet. She indulged her senses in the flowers, feeling the soft petals, inhaling the crisp, earthy smell. They were her favourite flowers, dangerous, but beautiful. She had always had immunity to the poisonous nature of them. The crow from her apartment window flew down from her third story window to land on a bare tree nearby. A second crow joins it. Instantly filled with joy and mirth at the flowers, and the wonderful Mavis, Alice continued on to the coffee shop, The Silver Dragon, on the corner.

The two crows stuck with her all the way down the deserted drive, so did her cheerful attitude. A black SUV comes bouncing down the ice layered road. “Hayley!” Shrieks a female voice, “Get away from the road!” Just as the third crow joins the rest, the SUV skids off the road and rams straight into the young girl in question. Alice is already in The Silver Dragon, unaware of the heart shattering event going on just behind her. The line was short, and it didn’t take long for Alice to get to the front. She ordered her usual, one cinnamon chai tea with two shots of coffee and one of caramel, and sat down at a table with her deadly bouquet. It was the perfect combination of sweet and bitter flavours. Outside, sirens sounded as ambulances and police cars gathered around the scene of the crash. Alice looks outside, must be a crazy driver or something, she thinks, not knowing the trouble caused by her little Corvidae friends.

The three crows held a conversation just outside the door, croaking about everything and nothing at the same time. A wail rose from the bathrooms of The Silver Dragon just as the fourth crow joined them. Alice, along with five other people sprinted to the women's stalls, where the sound was coming from. A young, pregnant woman had just broken water in the middle of the bathroom. Alice, who was training to be a midwife, instantly ran forwards and laid the girl gently down into the correct position. She took off her winter coat and laid it on the ground underneath the girl’s legs. Alice looks over to the other people, “Someone get a damp cloth! Someone call 911!” The damp cloth was handed to her, and the sound of sirens sounded not too far away.

When the paramedics arrived in the bathroom, Alice was kneeling beside the woman, helping her to drink some water. Another person was standing holding the newborn baby in her arms, wrapped in the damp cloth. The paramedics took over and did a health check on both the baby and the mother. Five crows including the original four gathered outside the window, watching the scene unfold. Both mother and child were healthy, and the paramedics noted the fact that the baby had twelve fingers and toes, and shining silver hair. Alice finished with the newly appointed mother and went over to the paramedics to reassure them that she was a trained midwife and had dealt with situations like this before. They thanked her for her help, and took the mother and child to the hospital to help them settle down, and give them the care they needed.

As Alice walked out of The Silver Dragon, she remembered that she had not had time to finish her drink before she dropped it to help the young mother, and that she had left the aconite flowers for anyone to touch. The five crows gathered on top of the doorway, awaiting her exit from the coffee shop. She walked out with a new takeaway cup of bittersweet chai tea and deadly bouquet in hand. Deciding that it had been enough drama for one day Alice turned to walk back home, but was blocked by police tape from the scene of the crash. Blood stained the snow, and a body laid covered in black cloth, hidden from the public eye. Realising it was more than just a crazy driver, Alice thanked Tyche that it was not her lying lifeless on the road. A sixth crow joined the rest, just as the mother of the unfortunate girl laid a gold necklace of great importance to her on her daughter’s body.

Alice took the long way home, and arrived covered in snow and soaked to the bone, as her expensive winter coat had been ruined by the birth. She laid the flowers on her coffee table, next to Pride and Prejudice, and went to take a shower. While she was thawing out in the steamy water, her phone buzzed and buzzed in her jean pocket on the tile floor. Seven crows gathered outside the window, waiting for the final piece of the puzzle. Finally giving in, Alice stopped the shower, grabbed a towel and answered the phone. Her friend’s voice rang out, tiny and insignificant from the phone, “Wow Alice, you’re so useless you can’t even keep your boyfriend.” Alice’s hand shook, and she dropped her phone. It smashed to pieces on the hard floor, but the only thing on Alice’s mind was betrayal, grief….. And revenge.