200 Words or Less # 3

we’d seen her a couple of times
from a distance
silently skimming the ground in front of our path

another day, 10 feet overhead

as she enters a thick stand of trees

without making a single sound

how?

at pre-dawn I walk our guest’s dog

I spot her seated at the top of a nearby oak tree

that evening the guest goes out to retrieve an item from the car

he hears her,

“no mistaking it”

one morning, well after day break,

I slip past my husband to fetch a 2nd cup of coffee

he stage whispers,

“look, look at her!”

she sits comfortably on our deck rail

I grab my phone

she obliges by turning her head our way

seemingly unimpressed, she turns back

then we hear a crow

just one, then many

she glances back our way

and in a flash she’s gone

followed by a trail of crows

ah, but she leaves us a gift,

of sorts,

a regurgitated pellet,

stuffed with tiny bones