Week 10 Story: Raven's Betrayal

It was 6 months since I was banished from my tribe. I won't go into details of what happened exactly, just that I would be killed if I ever went back. Probably for the best. They were going to get themselves killed anyways. Living alone was so much better! I only had myself to worry about and I could just do whatever I wanted. I ended up building a house off the coast of the Northern Sea. It was a small house; just one room, but it was home. I'm not completely alone either. There are plenty of seals that lay on the coast and are a great source of food. Good listeners too.

The morning sun shone bright through my window as I wake up to start another day. I don't have anything planned today so I cook up a quick breakfast of seal meat and berries and sit on my porch, listening to the crash of the waves and the barks of the seals nearby. I look down the coast to see a particularly large bird- a raven. 

Once he is close enough I send him my greetings, "Hello raven! What brings you up this far north?" 

"Hello human," says the raven. Talking animals weren't that uncommon so I'm not surprised when he greets me back. "I am sorry to bother you, but I am terribly hungry. Would you happen to have any spare food?"

My eyes light up, "Of course! It's cold up here, best stay full to keep your energy! Here have some of this!" I hand the raven the rest of my meal and he happily eats it all up.

"Thank you kind sir." the raven bows his head, "Say, would you want to be friends?"

I haven't had a friend in awhile, let alone someone to talk to and actually talk back to me. I was glad to finally have a friend! "Of course! If you would like to stay here a few days to rest up, I would be happy to have you!'

The raven looked over at the seals bathing in the cool sunlight, "I would certainly appriciate that. Thank you."

The day went on like any other day. I did my daily chores and raven slept most of the time. He must be tired, walking for so long. He is quite hungry though, and asked me multiple times for food. No problem though, I have plenty!

So far up north this time of year, the sun never really sets, but its position tells me it is time for bed. Raven insists that he is okay with sleeping outside so I do not push him anymore. I calmly fall asleep in my bed, resting up for the busy day I have tomorrow.

I am startled awake by the sound of screaming seals. Alarmed, I run outside to see the raven surrounded by a few dozen of the seals. They were all dead.

"Oh, hello sir," the raven looked startled, "I didn't mean to wake you, I was just so very hungry." He licked his beak as he tore into one of the seals.

"Listen raven," I look concerned, "I am happy to have you as a guest, but you cannot just kill all of these seals. We need to preserve the population." 

The raven bows his head once more, "My apologies, it won't happen again."

I am content with his response and go back into my home, quickly falling back asleep. 

A few hours later I wake up. Its very quiet outside; I don't hear the normal commotion from the seals nearby. I pour myself a cup of warm water and leaves to wake myself up and open the front door. To my surprise, there are no seals on the beach. No sign of the raven either. I walk down to the beach and only find bones. The meat was cleanly picked off of them. Suddenly, I hear a voice behind me.

"I must apologize for my actions," raven said behind me, "I was just so so very hungry."

I turn around to see raven, stuffed full of seal meat. I'm speechless.

"You seemed to have run out of food, human," the raven licked his beak and looked me up and down, "and I am still very hungry."

This raven was strange. I have never seen any animal eat this much before. Why is he walking towards me like that? "Listen raven, I-"

Before I can finish my sentence, the raven lunges towards me, beak wide open.

Alaskan Seals - Source

Author's Note: Like many of the tales I read here, this story was very surface level when it came to the characters. That is not a problem, it is just something I like when reading stories. I decided to expand on a very small part of the story: when the raven eats the man. I wanted to give the man a backstory, and show who he is as a person. I hope the reader feels sympathy for the man, as he was just trying to be kind to a wandering traveler. The raven on the other hand seemed strange to me in the original story. How can one small-ish bird eat that much? Probably because he is a psychopath. From the beginning when he is introduced, I wanted to give the raven a weird vibe to him, and I hope it was effective. I hope you enjoyed my version of this story!

Original Story