White and Orange

I burst through the foliage of the forest, twigs cracking underneath, making enough noise to quite the birdsong above me. The route through this forest is a shortcut for me. I only have my feet to carry me to and back from my middle-school, unlike the rest of my peers who rode there on their bicycles. The route from my home, through the grain fields, underneath the canopy of the forest and then farther into the center of Asmara, my town, to reach my school, took me about an hour every day. But school was worth it. 

If instead I’d taken the asphalt road that snaked around my neighborhood to school, it’ add half-an-hour more to my journey and I wasn’t about to have that. My mother already thought it was too dangerous for a girl my age to walk through the forest unaccompanied so I waited for half-an-hour more around the outskirts of the forest before emerging into the field just so she’d buy that I came home from school by the road. I didn’t mind the wait, especially now that I had Isaac to keep me company, my white breasted crow. 

Most crows usually hung around the dumps that edged the fields, to scavenge for food. But ever since the eagles took over that territory the crows moved into the forest. The eagles had moved because of the scarce prey around these parts (or so I liked to believe) as did other predators, like the hyenas and foxes that came to the dumps at night and roamed closer and closer to human habitats every day. But this wasn’t new. Animals moved all the time. I had no doubts that hyenas and foxes lived in this forest but they only came out at night, it was relatively safe in the mornings. 

I’d seen Isaac’s white breast dart through the branches one day and tried to follow him to kill time. I’d been unsuccessful the first few days but soon I learned that he liked the edge of the forest more. So I started taking him some food to befriend him. Just some stale breadcrumbs. He seemed to like them enough to start following me around but crows are skittish, they don’t trust as easy as pigeons. He kept his distance and eventually I started talking to him so he’d feel more comforted by my voice, like I’d seen my uncle do with a horse. Three months in and now he follows me from when I enter the forest, to my waiting spot at the other edge of the forest. I sit at my boulder, throw him a fistful of crumbs straight of my pockets, far enough so our proximity doesn’t spook him, I wait for him to settle comfortably on the ground while pecking away at the crumbs and I then start my monologue. 

“We learned about altitudes today. Did you know that Asmara stands at 2400 km above sea level? That’s why the air here is so thin, it doesn’t have that much oxygen. Do you ever get out-of-breath when flying? That would be the thin air.” Isaac squawks and I toss him another handful. I never give him all the crumbs at the same time, hoping he’ll get full and I’ll have enough crumbs left to befriend other birds, but this one has an appetite. At least he was also a good listener. 

“That’s what my teacher said. And that’s also why it’s cooler up here in the highlands. The rains we get during the summer are also a reflection of us being so close to the Sea, that’s the Red Sea, of course. The heat during the summer evaporates the sea water and then winds blow it toward us. But the thing is, summers are getting hotter right?” Isaac turns his head to the side as I stop talking. I guess he really does like my voice. “So why are the rains decreasing? Because I asked my grandmother about it and she said they had more rain back in her day. The streets would be filled and even the sewers the Italians built couldn’t keep the flooding at bay. What do you think?” Isaac squawked again as I threw him more crumbs. Once we were finished I shook my pants to get rid of any remaining residue and hoped I could get the crumbs out of my uniform when I washed it this weekend. 

More days passed and now Isaac waited for me at the usual spot, then went out with me far into the fields to accompany me home. He always flew away when I went inside our gates. 

One day as I walk back through the forest again something stops me in my tracks. There, in the distance, I see something bright flash by. Something orange and clearly moving thorough the same route I take out of the forest. Someone with my same school uniform! Maybe they were new, or maybe their bike broke down! Whatever the reason I finally had a companion to walk home with. I run to catch up to them but just as quickly stop in my tracks again. I can see her now, a girl, clearly older than me, hair tied at the crown, bag slung over one shoulder to look cool. 

And I also see him. Isaac. Following her out of the forest. As if I’m not the only girl that feeds him! As if this whole time what we had wasn’t special! That little traitor! Oh, the backstabber! I guess it was true what they said about crows. I fly into a rage and a million hateful things fly through my mind as I hurry back home, my tears drying before I get there.  

The next day I go by the same route, half-expecting Isaac to be gone, to have moved on from us. But there he is again, waiting patiently for me to settle down on my boulder, pick up a fistful of crumbs and toss it to him. I guess we’ll act as if nothing happened yesterday. Or maybe him ruffling his feathers a bit more than usual today is an acknowledgment, an apology.

“Apology accepted.” I say, gracefully, then launch into what I’ve been dying to tell him. “Did you know that the sea is just some hours’ ride away from here? I’d like to swim in it, even though salt water tastes disgusting. But I can’t swim. Still I can wade around, splash around. Imagine just being near the sea. I heard there’s crows around there too, you could make friends instead of just hanging out here all lonely. I wonder if…” 

“Why are you feeding that devil crow?” there came a voice from behind me. I was so startled that for a moment I thought it was the deki hidirtna come to take me away, the fairies. But then I rationalize that they only came out at night and turn around. It was the girl from yesterday.

“What devil crow?” I ask, thinking it rude that she hadn’t greeted me first.

“That devil crow.” She says, pointing at Isaac. He merely stares at her a moment before bending back to his crumbs. 

“That’s no devil crow, that’s just Isaac.” 

“If he’s not a devil crow then why did he attack me yesterday?” she says. It takes a moment for her words to sink in and then I notice that she doesn’t look like she’s hiding behind the trees from me, she’s clinging to them, in fright. “He followed me home and wouldn’t leave for a while. He’s been stalking me.” She says

“I think he thought you were me.” I say, pointing to our matching uniforms. “I always feed him and he accompanies me home sometimes. Don’t you Isaac?” I ask, turning back to him. Isaac stares at us for a moment, until I realize he’s finished his crumbs and is expecting more. I throw another handful at him, this time closer to where I sit. He inches his way closer to the crumbs, finally trusting me enough not to care about proximity. 

“He’s distracted by the food. You can go now.” I say to the girl, not bothering to turn to her and resume my monologue. “As I was saying, the sea is pretty close. They call it the Red Sea because the corals glow red in the dark. I wonder if I can convince mom to take me during the summer…”

“Summers are always too hot in Massawa.” Says the girl behind me. Massawa would be the port town almost everyone went to during the summer. There they swam to their heart’s content and ate fresh delicious fish in all the restaurants. I’d never been but I’d heard about it often enough.

“What do you know about Massawa?” I ask her. I throw more crumbs at Isaac so he doesn’t bother us for a minute.

“Well, it’s too hot to go in the summer, though that’s when the tourists and foreigners and most everyone goes because of the summer holidays.” The girl inches her way closer, while checking to see that Isaac stays put. When she reaches my boulder I can tell that she’s eased into our presence. She sits comfortably by me and continues (in what I think is a snobby voice).

“But I personally prefer it in the winter, around New Years’ time. Then the heat is perfect. Almost like you’re in Dubai, or at least that’s what my mother says.”

“Well, you’re clearly rich.” I say, to the point.

“Well, you’re clearly a weirdo. Talking to crows and feeding them… God knows what.”

“First off, you must be blind. I feed a crow. Emphasis on the one crow. And secondly…” 

“No he’s not. Are you blind? There’s more than one crow, don’t you see them?”

“You’re not blind. You’re seeing double. Guess that makes you a weirdo also.”

“Oh, just shut up for a moment. Keep feeding your crow, you’ll know what I mean.”

I don’t deign reply to this and instead keep throwing crumbs at Isaac, drawing breath to talk. 

“So about Massawa…” 

“I said shut up. You keep missing them switching places because you’re always blathering. Just watch.” 

So I watch, feeling more offended than before. Who does this girl think she is? A Queen? Well I wouldn’t be following her orders anymore. Maybe I should’ve set Isaac at her… His movements seem slower now that I’m not talking. He pecks at the crumbs and then just as I think he’s going in for another bite be leans down and takes to the sky. I follow his flight to a nearby tree and that’s when I see them. More crows, maybe five in total, all standing perched in the same tree. The distinct pattern of a white breast on all those black canvases. All Isaacs.

My mouth hangs open as another crow takes flight and lands near the crumbs, almost exactly where Isaac had been, if that really had been Isaac to begin with. I turn back at the crows, then at the girl, then at our matching uniforms and back to the white breasts on every crow. 

“What’s your name.” I ask her.

“Aster.” She says, “What’s yours?”

“Ghenet. I think we’ll need to bring more bread crumbs from now on.”