a conceptual sampler (2023)
He was staring at me.
His beady black eyes twinkled intelligently from the rotting fence post just outside my window – a window I usually kept covered with a sheet tacked to the wall.
I stared back with the sheet in hand, it’s cheap cotton bunched between my labor-swollen fingers as I stood alone in my room, silhouetted by the lush greenery on the other side of the glass.
I greeted quietly, my voice cracking with disuse.
The inky black bird tilted his head as if he could hear me, a soft croak making the feathers at his throat puff in greeting.
I couldn’t help but smile, the corners of my mouth curling involuntarily as I continued our staring contest. My bedroom was dark compared to the sun soaked walkway leading to my apartment door. It felt surreal – looking outside – like standing too close to a TV.
He was a crow – a thick crow. Maybe a raven.
In a flurry of feathers, the raven – it was definitely bigger than a crow – took off towards the trees.
I swore I could see pixels...
With a sigh, I refocused on the task that brought me to my window in the first place and tossed the sheet off into a pile of dark clothes in the corner. I really needed to do laundry…
It was easy enough to install, but even so, I was quick about it. I felt vulnerable to the open window, the safety of my bland, beige walls threatened by the glass inviting onlookers and passerby to gaze inside. Their invisible eyes burned my almond skin and pushed me faster, making my unpainted fingers fumble with plastic hooks until the curtain was threaded and ready to be hung.
A flimsy rod and neatly pressed blackout curtains sat upon my bed – a queen box spring I’d gotten from my uncle. The sheet I’d been using had a nasty habit of collecting shadows in the shapes of monsters and uninvited guests which had finally convinced me into getting proper curtains. If they were really out there, then at least I could pretend they weren't.
I was safe.
These creatures most often take on the appearance of crows and ravens, but have been documented adopting other species into their ranks during times of plague. Tasked with the collection of souls, Collectors often follow and stalk those who are close to death or dying. Though it is not unheard of for Collectors to hunt souls for personal gain, it is extremely discouraged by higher ranking creatures of the same field.
The Collector
My shoulders slumped.
I was alone again.