It seemed that every time I opened the door they were there. They followed me when I walked and even when I drove. They were everywhere. And, no, it wasn’t just my imagination since a few people commented on it.
The wings were beginning to drive me crazy. Why was I being shadowed so?
We all know what happened next, and the less said, the better.
Yep, lucky me, I was a survivor. A one in perhaps ten million survivor.
Only it wasn’t luck.
As I explored the new, emptier world, I still had my constant companions. The wings stopped bothering me and became welcome.
The world was not just emptier, it was lonelier and so I tried to communicate with my new “friends”. I slowly began to understand them.
No, it wasn’t luck.
I discovered that I was the region’s appointed survivor.
They knew it was coming and wanted a representative human to keep around for a while. You know, as a warning.
For some reason, they chose me.
And so here I am, the appointed one, watching as the world heals from centuries of misuse.
***
This was written for Sue Vincent’s writephoto challenge. She provided the photo at the top and also a key word, appointed. This week Sue is trying a Mister Linky link up.
OK, I wrote another dark one, but at least the plot is a bit different than the last two week’s stories, which had identical plots.
Trent's World (the Blog) 
Pingback: Photo prompt round-up: Appointed #writephoto | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
They are much wiser than we are. But I’m not sure I’d want to be in his position. (K)
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Crows can be rather scary, so big and black, they have earned their reputation!
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They are pretty scary, but also pretty cool. They are very smart and have also earned their reputation of being tricksters.
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And so lovely too!
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Agreed.
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Not dark at all. You didn’t even mention a flock of crows!
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Nope, I didn’t say anything about a murder of crows ;)
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Well, *now* you’ve gone and done it!
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Oh oh… I’ll give Alfred Hitchcock a call…
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Oooh, this is creepy, Trent.
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Thanks, Robbie.
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I loved your story. Did you know Crows had facial recognition abilities and could use tools. I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of a crow.
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Thanks. Crows are very intelligent. I’ve read that not only do the recognize people, but they do little favors for those they like. I agree – I don’t want to be on their wrong side!
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Never!…more LOL
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lol
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🙂
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Pingback: Appointed ~ Trent P. McDonald #writephoto | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
Ooh creepy, I loved it. Great take on the photo. KL ❤️
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Thanks!
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A wonderfully emotive story. I love talking to the birds they are my friends in a world where I have few human ones.
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Birds are cool and there is something fascinating about crows. Since you talk to them already, if the scenario in the story comes to pass, you might end up being the chosen one…
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Me chosen-never! I’m the cursed one!
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I think the main character in this story would consider himself a bit cursed… ;)
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Yes, we’ll be a good team then.
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The covidae made their choice. Creepy story, Trent. It makes me want to know what happens next. :-)
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Thanks Diana. I’m not sure what is going to happen, nor how the covidae predicted what did happen. When I asked a very big one, “So, how did you know? Do you have special powers, or…?” quoth the raven, “Never more.” ;)
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:-) That’s the fun of flash fiction, you don’t need to answer those questions.
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Yes, and sometimes the more unanswered questions, the better. As to comments, answering gives me the excuse to quote Poe, which is always welcome ;)
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A lonely position, I would imagine…
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Yes, very lonely indeed… I hope he likes talking to the crows…
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There are worse things to talk to ;)
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True. And I would rather talk to crows than some people I know…
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Me too :D
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