Saturday, January 09, 2010

Entry #81

Frank/Crow
by Jason Henry McCormick


I went to the woods to take some photos for a few hours. Two days later I was still there, and just about ready to die in the wilderness. I hadn't eaten for a while, and when a tree told me that my shoe was untied I said thanks but kept walking, because trees don’t talk. Then I ended up face down in some leaves. Eventually, I stood up and had the last gulp from my water bottle while a crow observed me from a nearby tree branch. It had very nice balance, a crooked beak, and blue-black feathers. When it said hello, I laughed and tied my shoe. Then it yelled at me. “Hey!” it squawked. “I’m Frank!” I kept quiet. “I want to be famous, and I’ll make you a deal. If you’ll take a photo of me, then I’ll take you to the trailhead. But once you get home, you have to post the picture on the internet." There were no other options so I agreed with the terms, but we couldn’t shake on it because Frank didn’t have any hands. So he lead the way and we headed east or maybe north, and Frank was true to his word. We made it to the trailhead before nightfall. I told Frank to strike a pose. “Wait!” he crowed. “Take the photo while I’m airborne so everyone can see my massive wingspan!” I said okay, then I snapped a good one.

26 comments:

PJD said...

Ha ha! Love the denial and the assumption that he's going mad from hunger, though he really isn't.

Leah McClellan said...

I love this! I love the conversational, matter-of-fact tone. Love the line "we couldn't shake on it because Frank didn't have any hands." So...blase, I guess that's the word. Such an odd topic (talking to a bird that actually talks back) treated as something ordinary, which is the charm of it. You've given me some inspiration :)

Sarah Laurenson said...

Hahahaha

Very light tone, handled exceptionally well.

Craig said...

I liked the way he first denied the strange things that were happening around him and then accepted them.

Bernita said...

A certain reckless hilarity about this.
I like it very much.
Would like to think he has more adventures with "Frank."

JaneyV said...

Are you suggesting this whole competition was based on the fact that Jason got lost in the woods and made a deal with a crow???? Terrific idea.

Thanks Frank!

wrath999 said...

Cool imagination and great idea

Kartik said...

Hehe this is definitely different .. I love the tone!

Lena said...

Finally something less dark in this contest! Love the way how you presented it. Well done :)

catvibe said...

Fun! I enjoyed it and it mad me laugh. Frank the Crow...Love it.

Michael Solender said...

totally you jhank, very wild and subversive!

Preeti said...

HAHAHA...

Loved it totally. The style of narration is amazingly simplistic and droll. And yet there are deeper layers and sub-layers to this piece. One imagines that he's gone insane and then one realizes that he has indeed lost it since he's striking a deal with a talking bird that has a name. And then the end where what we think is insanity actually saves his life.

Loved the subtlety with which you've connected it to the contest picture... NAUGHTY!!!
:-)))))

Aniket Thakkar said...

Aah... So that's how Jason got this photo! Nice one. :)

Kate said...

LOL. I like the matter-of-fact voice.

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for reading and commenting everyone! Bernita, I totally agree with you about the future adventures of Frank. I have a feeling that I'll see him again soon.

laughingwolf said...

lol... one must be frank, and earnest ;)

Laurel said...

I read a lot of fairy tales so I didn't immediately assume this guy had lost his mind. He sounded quite reasonable to me; crows are smart and in fairy tales it's usually the bird who leads you out of the woods (unless the greedy bastard ate your breadcrumbs) so really the sensible thing to do is take Frank up on it.

Damned useful, if you ask me, having a friend like Frank. I'd like to see more of him.

DILLIGAF said...

The crow who think's he's a man, or the man who think's he's a crow...

Along with the possibly loony photographer this is the second time I've thought of James Herbert.

Remember 'Fluke'?

Really well thought out old bean.

Meghan said...

A really interesting and twisty tale! I love how when the crow talks to him THEN he ties his shoe!

fairyhedgehog said...

This is such a deceptively easy read. I like how it's not just inspired by the photo prompt but it actually explains it.

Deb Smythe said...

That was fun. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

simple and clean!

Chris Eldin said...

AHAHAHAHAHA! It shouldn't be, because it seems like this is a tease to Jason, but it really is one of my favorites! Very wry and clever. Old bean (now that phrase is in my head forever, thankd to reading all these comments for all the posts).

McKoala said...

Easily the coolest yet.

james r. tomlinson said...

Sometimes those stories are grounded in reality. Maybe our host encountered more than he could bargain for. I'm wondering whether this would read better with some white space between some of the sentences. Just a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

Dear Entrants #1-105,

I have read your pieces so that I can fairly participate in the Readers' Choice vote. (I read all of them through last week, before I started commenting.) I will be coming back around to offer my keep/tweak comment, but I didn't want anyone to snark.

Cheers,
Aerin (#236)

BTW, it's perfectly fine if you still want to snark, but this way you can choose a more appropriate subject, like Sarah Palin's hair or the enigmatic career of Justin Timberlake.