The raindrops fell down the little boy’s cheeks. His butler watched his young master who seemed to be overcrowded by what looked like a bunch of dark shadows dressed in suits. The butler tried to push forward through the extra tight security, and police force. The little boy’s eyes looked quite lost. He could not even stare directly into my eyes. I felt sorry for the kid. I tapped my pen on the front page of my thick notebook. “No…that’s not what happened…” As the boy spoke, his words just froze in his mind. “What happened was…” I patiently waited for the young lad to try to recollect his memories of what had happened, but each time he tried to speak his words were swallowed by grief. He looked as if his whole world had come crashing down. “No…he did not have blond hair…he…” I scratched back, and forth— the kid was not helping with this case with these kind of foggy like details. It was going to be hard to even track down the one who had committed such a ghastly crime. “Hey, alright kid. So, did the bad person ask you to hand over your expensive golden watch?” I waited, again, for what seemed to be an eternity for a response from the boy. “No…she…I mean he…never said that…What he…they…said was…?” The questioning was not going anywhere. I decided it was time for him to head back home. He was lost in deep thought. A hand reached out to him from his right side. This made him jump into my arms. I held onto the kid for a short moment before reminding him to not be afraid, and that if he remembered anything at all that could help with this case he could inform his butler to give me a call. The boy was directed into the back of one of the most expensive new self-driving hover cars. Once the kid and his butler were in the car, it was told to head home in its fastest driving mode. I raised my eyebrow, and wondered to myself: “Now if I were a bad guy, I’d make sure to have access to such a car when it was time to leave the crime scene.” One of the emt guys walked over to me, and asked if I had a minute. I nodded my head, and stepped toward the back of the ambulance near the crime scene. I poked my head inside the back, and saw one of the bodies—they had been two- the first a young woman~ in here was the second body, and with a quick glance one could almost fall head over heels for him…the man was strikingly quite a looker. I brushed these thoughts in the back of my mind. The gentleman slowly opened his eyes, and stared right at me. “He did not mean to do it. Please, forgive him. He needs help…before things get out of control..whatever you do…do not shoot him when you finally get to him.” My jaw became slightly loose at the gentleman’s words. The ambulance doors had to be closed soon, and I stepped away from it. I grabbed my phone, while my heart was racing. I hoped I was not too late. Meanwhile, back at the kid’s mansion. A phone was ringing in the kitchen. No one picked up. “Damn it!” I shook my head, and ran toward my partner. “We don’t have much time. We have to try and catch up to the kid’s vehicle. Fast!”

Baba clenched his fists, getting ready to practice his world famous fist painting style. He had to make sure to get himself prepared, and ready for the Intergalactic Artistic Forms Tournament. A little birdie informed him that even the all time world’s greatest and most famous original fist painting style artist, Kaya, would be present for this year’s tournament which would be live streamed across the entire Milky Way Galaxy— from Mercury to well, even, Pluto.

Baba took a deep breath, and sighed. He had been at it before the crack of dawn. But now he needed to take some time to relax, and make his way to the nearest milkshake station that had just opened up on Mars. He heard that they were out of this world! Eh, Baba hoped so. He was going to actually have to leave Earth’s atmosphere to go and enjoy a glass of milkshake on Mars.

As Baba made his way over to his solar and hydro powered spaceship like vehicle—he heard the sound of a bird -cawing in the distance. He began to slowly trot toward his car, and then the moment he wanted to take a seat in it~ he began to feel the ground shake under his feet. He tried staying a bit still for a short while, but his eyelids began to close, and he thought he had finally caught a glimpse of the bird that had been making so much noise. Also, the bird had transformed into a tall looking form that was covered in a long, & scarlet robe.

Later when Baba at last regained some form of consciousness, he felt his body was all out of sorts. When his eyes finally adjusted to the bright lights which were shining down on him…he noticed that he was strapped to an operating table.

Baba swayed his body. Doing his best to shake himself loose from the metal chains that had been placed around his wrists, ankles, including his neck. He was feeling super dizzy. He wanted to cry out for help. Alas, his voice seemed to be totally lost, or gone. As if it had been whisked away from his throat.

Baba scanned the room, and blinked his eyes. Then he spotted it, again. This time it was still in its dark robe. It approached closer, and closer to Baba.

He let out a scream, as the thing was now only a few inches away from his visage. Baba finally mustered some courage to ask it what it wanted. The thing squinted its obsidian flaming eyes, and cackled: “Your dreams, Baba. Now sit back, and relax. This will hurt me much more than it will you.’’ It replied while it began to slide a scalpel around Baba’s noggin.

#CORVUS. 06.25.2026

Copyright.

“I lay in the grass, the sun shining on my face, listening to the leaves rustle in the wind. When a shadow crossed my face, I opened my eyes expecting to see clouds…’’

The group of young and older folks moved toward the edge of the wooden bar seats waiting for Larry to continue yet again one of his favorite local town folk lore of Kryptville. A few people seemed to always find time to step into the bar every Saturday night to listen to him speak.

‘‘But what I saw felt like something right out of a movie. I saw a kind of giant peculiar looking human. It looked to be about seven to nine feet tall…and quite hairy, too. Also, when I shined my flashlight in its direction its eyes glowed. When I tried to capture it on camera— owe- it quickly darted back into the dense bushes and trees of the Kryptville forest. I think I spotted…—Big foot!’’

I shook my head, and scoffed. One of the locals raised an eyebrow at me. ‘‘You better watch yourself out in these woods. You never know exactly who, or what will come get you!’’

I continued to shake my head. ‘‘What a bunch of baloney! This guy surely had one too many alcoholic drinks. Either that or…he had been daydreaming.’’ I kept these musings to myself. These folks in this little town were all indubitably bonkers.

#CORVUS. 21.06.2026

(Copyright)

He paced back, and forth in the room that had a ceiling which reminded him of the Sistine Chapel art. Then he stopped to stare at his lady, and her beautiful curly dreadlocks all tossed about her dark copper toned face. Michelangelo himself would have most likely tried to sculpt something which sort of resembled this non-winged angel. He wanted to lean in forward, and give her a final embrace. But decided it was best for him to quickly pack all his belongings, and skedaddle.

He called for a taxi right away. Once it arrived, he grabbed his stuff, and marched out of the mansion through the back door. No one noticed him leave around the witching hour.

The drive away from what had been his home for a long while had not been an easy one. All he could think about was his lady.

He felt a stream of tears begin to slowly trickle down from the corner of his eyes. The thought of his close buddies seeing him in such a manner would have drive them into heaps of laughter. He had told them when they were just little boys that his father had mentioned to him when they were out fishing that, “grown men do not cry…!’’ If only his father could have seen him now, too. He would not be proud at all, seeing his little boy now a grown man sobbing in the back of a taxi.

When he arrived at his final destination, he took the sights in. There was only a small crowd of folks in a marketplace. Some folks looked as if they were ready to go out fishing; sights of a few lads holding bunches of newspapers in their hands brought a smile on his face.

With a slight hop on his step, he galloped into a nearby office. There he noticed a young boy sitting at a desk. He approached him, and asked, “Are there any job vacancies in this here town, kid?’’

The young lad blinked his eyes at first. He stared at the man as if he was asking a question in another tongue. The kid slowly blinked his eyes, “Oh…sorry..eh— you looking for a job?’’

He handed the man a large form which he told him to fill out, and hand back to him. Once he did that, the kid handed him a briefcase that at first the man looked puzzled. The kid smiled at him, “It’s for your new job. The only one that is available is street namer. Ah- the former one did not live up to the horrors and thrills of the work.’’

“You must be joking. Right?’’

The kid shook his head after bursting out into laughter. “Nope. Anyway, I wish you all the best of luck, my friend, because you are going to need it!’’

#CORVUS. 20.06.2025

She waved her hand for someone to give her a ride, and waited. Most of the vehicles that passed by looked like smart cars. Also, most folks all seemed to be in a rush, and did not want to give a ride to a stranger.

After what felt like eons, a tiny farming vehicle stopped by her side. She blinked her eyes at the sight of the farmer smiling brightly underneath his straw hat. The young lady slowly smiled. Then she carefully hopped on the back of the farmer’s car.

The farmer did not try to make any small talk. She preferred it that way, too. She only had one thing set on her mind, and nothing was going to stop her from getting it done.

When they arrived at one of the filling stations, the young woman called out to the farmer. ‘‘This is my stop, thanks!’’

The farmer nodded his head. He came to a complete stop, and let the woman hop out of the back of the tractor. As soon as she stepped out, he continued on his way. ‘‘Now time for me to get to work.’’ She said to herself.

She looked around, and spotted her target who was wearing the flashiest suit she had ever seen. He spotted her from a distance, and wondered why a random person was waving at him. He thought that the suit his wife had picked for him this time would at least be one that would keep him out of trouble. Maybe not this time. He scratched the back of his head, and still kept wondering who exactly this was that was now running toward him. She plopped into his arms, almost making them both tumble to the ground. ‘’Hello there, darling. Fancy bumping into you here. Would you mind if I tagged along with you into this nice place,’’she asked in a loud, obnoxious manner, as she pointed toward the bar famous for takin’ great care of high profile government officials and businessmen.

He shrugged his shoulders, laughed, and then planted a kiss on the young lady’s cheeks, “If this is the best of possible worlds…’’ he started off, and then he felt a finger pressed close onto his wide, open lips.

‘‘…what then are the others like?’’ She asked as she continued as if she could read his mind.

He grinned. ‘‘You and I will have a blast here. Eh— miss-…’’

She smiled like a black widow that had just set a trap for a fly, and replied~‘‘You can call me Barbara. Miss Barbara. Yes. I absolutely do see us getting along for all eternity. Let’s now step in together, and I shall show you the world of my creation.’’

#CORVUS. 13/06/2025.

The sound of heels clicking on the wooden tiled floor made me lose my train of thought. Also, I caught a strong whiff of a very expensive cologne in the atmosphere. Its scent caught me off guard. It reminded me of something, but I could not put my finger on what exactly. There was a gentle knock on my office door. I sighed. The secretary I had hired seemed to forget to remind folks to make sure they set up an appointment before coming to see me. I shook my head, and said, ‘‘Come in.’’

I raised an eyebrow at the sight of my new client. I guessed they were a customer and needed my help with a private matter. My so-called new client stepped into my office, with careful steps as if she was walking on glass, or egg shells. I asked her, “How may I be of service…erm—?”

She glanced at me with one eye. Her other eye was covered by a portion of her wide brim fancy tea hat. She slowly placed her lace glove covered hands on her lap before she finally replied, “Banda…Ms. Barbara Banda..”

Ms. Banda informed me that she needed help with a particular matter. Someone close to her was missing, and she was afraid to go ask for help from the police because of a fear she had that one of the officers could be the person behind her partner going MIA. I listened attentively to her every word and nodded my head. I assured her not to worry. I placed my hand across my chest and said, “I promise to do my level best and find out what happened to Mr. Banda.”

The lady dressed in a sunflower yellow dress attire bowed her head. She sniffed, and wiped her nose with a handkerchief. I wondered what line of work she was in. If she had told me she was an actress, I would not have doubted her at all. She prepared to leave my office, but turned around and said, “I am afraid I may go missing, too. For now I will stay right at home and try to get some work done at the mansion.”

I waved goodbye to her. Then stepped out of my office and locked the door. I looked around the rest of the hallway, and tried to see if my secretary was still around by the office space. She had already clocked out, and even left a note on her desk stating, “I had to leave a tad bit early. I’m going to go out with my girls for an evening movie night.’’

I smiled after reading the note, and thought to myself, “It’s going to be a long night. Time for me to get to work and find out as much as I can about Mr. & Mrs. Banda. Something tells me Mrs. Banda may have some additional details that she decided to leave out and not tell me about. Anyway, sooner or later the cat will be out of the bag…hopefully it will not be all hell breaking loose..or me taking on more than I can chew!’’

10.06.2025

#CORVUS.

The old woman slowly opened her eyes and stared around the room filled with a good number of bonsais. Her shaky hands tried to reach out to something, or someone. But no one was there. She blinked her eyes at a snail’s pace, and then suddenly felt a throbbing pain coming from her head. Soon her ears began to ring. She tried shaking her head back and forth, thinking that might do the trick. Out of no where she started to see fragments— bits and pieces of what was left in her locus coeruleus- she could not recognize anything that a part of her brain stem had stored from her life. She asked in a gentle whisper: ‘‘Who are you people? What are you doing in my room?’’ Some of the shadows were quite busy twirling around the woman, and others were smiling at her. She could not take it any longer, and she let out a piercing scream. Then she finally spotted a familiar shadow in the room: a young dashing gentleman who was dressed in a dashiki. This brought a smile to her face. Now the room that had surrounded her began to gradually fade away into a burst of bright sunlight as if a giant hammer had been slowly chipping away the haunting space. The gentleman had a smile on his face as he said to the woman: ‘‘Come on. Let’s now go together to a much better place than this; one where you will not have a room all to yourself, and your forgotten memories.’’

#CORVUS #Oblitus #es

30/05/2025. Friyay.

The young lad stormed out of his father’s house. He leaped over the wire fence, and rushed into the meadow. He rushed over to lay down beneath a jacaranda tree. The sight of the purple flowers put a smile on his face. The sound of birds chirping made his heart feel much more at ease for the time being. He tried to push out all the mean things his older brothers had called him: lapis parvus, a small stone. This upset him, and then what made his day worse was that his elder brothers were all way taller than him, stronger than him, some even told him that they would be much richer than him, too. The young lad felt something irritating underneath his butt. He quickly stood up, and picked up a smooth, but shiny little pebble. He liked the way that it shined in the sunlight. When he heard the sound of a wagon approaching, he hid the small stone in his front pocket. When he finally decided to head back home, he noticed that the house was very quiet. It was eerily silent that if he decided to drop his pebble on the floor, he would be able to hear it. The young lad went to check the kitchen, no body was there. He even checked the bedrooms, and they were also empty. He ran back out of his house, tried calling out for his brothers, but then decided to just enjoy his time of peace and freedom. Suddenly, there was a loud piercing roar that echoed all around. This frightened the young lad. He ran and hid underneath the kitchen table. Then he thought to himself: I need to go outside, and protect the jacaranda tree. So, he leaped out of the house through the open kitchen window, and ran toward the meadow. He tried to run as fast as his feet would go, and when he finally made it at his favorite spot— he made sure to look around for any signs of danger- then he spotted it: some kind of strange looking human. It towered over him, and the house. The young lad gulped. He wondered if this thing had eaten his family. He wanted to turn back around, and hide from it before it had spotted him. Alas, before he could hide, he heard the giant say: Halt. You there. I challenge you to defeat me. The kid turned around, and said: I am a poor boy. I need to head back home, and do not accept your challenge. The giant laughed, and clapped his hands, then said: You will have to fight me here, right now, lad. With no where to run, or hide~ the young lad sighed. He would just have to fight the giant with…something. At first he thought to himself: Maybe I can try to ask the birds to help me defeat the giant. All they have to do is peck out his eyes. The young lad shook his head. He did not know how to ask the birds for help. Then he remembered he did have something to use. He started to run toward the giant. At this moment, the giant had been laughing at the sight of the kid running toward him. The young lad also had something else in his pocket which he liked to use when he had wanted to hit bigger objects like a heavy beehive that had lots of honey. He pulled it out of his pocket, along with the pebble. He placed the pebble in his shooter, a device that he had made with some branches, and a piece of rope. He pulled back on his device with the pebble placed in a pocket like part, and then let go. The pebble shot through the air with the speed of a bullet. It landed right in the center of the giant’s forehead. The giant was not laughing anymore. It fell backward onto its back, and the ground shook, almost making the kid land on his butt onto the ground. But he had managed to center and steady his feet firmly on the meadow’s ground. He smiled, leaped, and kicked the back of the heels of his feet in the air. He recalled now that his father had a sword in one of the kitchen cabinets. The kid took off like he was being chased by a pack of hungry wolves. He grabbed the sword from one of the the kitchen cabinets, and ran back outside. When he was back in the meadow, he made sure to check first if the giant was still breathing. It’s heart was not beating anymore. The young lad climbed on top of the giant, and plunged the sword deep into the giant’s belly. This created a hole big enough for anyone in the giant’s belly to escape. The sunlight beamed into the hole making the hole much more visible even from the inside of the giant’s belly. The young lad’s brothers were happy to be rescued. When they finally all climbed out of there, they were shocked to see their little brother standing in the meadow looking like a newly appointed knight to King Arthur. From that day forward, the young lad’s older brothers never made fun of their little brother ever again.

#Corvus #Lapis #parvus

29/05/2025 Thorsday.

Martha hummed along to the sound of Davido’s latest catchy tune on her tiny silver pear tablet. She tapped her feet along to the rhythm of the afro~beats. Then her current favorite song was interrupted by a sound of a buzz, alerting her that someone was calling. She looked at the caller ID: Greg.

Martha shook her head, sighed, and then answered the call: Hey. What’s up? You disturbed my jam sesh.

The line suddenly went quiet, and then out of nowhere Martha heard a loud, piercing scream. Her heart skipped a beat. Then she finally mustered the courage to interrupt the awful, disturbing noise: Hey, Greg. This isn’t funny. If this is one of your silly pranks. I’m not buying it.

Martha hang up the call, and continued listening to “With You” by Davido, ft. Omah Lay. Then she received a text:

THIS IS NO SILLY PRANK, MARTHA. GREG IS TIED UP AND IN THE METAL SEAT. COME RIGHT AWAY TO THE PINNED ADDRESS TO SAVE HIM. IF YOU DON’T…WELL..IT’LL BE GAME OVER FOR GREG.

She dropped the phone and felt her world spinning out of control. They had left her a voicemail, too, informing her not to contact any local police authority. Martha felt a sudden urge to throw up. They didn’t want any money. So, what did they want from her, or Greg?

Martha hurriedly walked out of her home through the kitchen back door. She looked around to see if there were any cameras, and someone who was filming her for some odd prank show for YouTube. But there was no one hiding behind any of Martha’s gigantic succulents that she had somehow managed to shape into something resembling her partner.

She cruised out of her driveway, and made her way into the main road in a flash. Maybe the cops would pull her over for speeding, but then again she had to be careful not to get their attention. Not right now anyway.

When Martha pulled close toward the pinned location, she decided to wait a short while before she would step into what looked like an abandoned farmhouse. She clasped her hands together, and quickly said a little prayer.

The moment she stepped into the abandoned building she was greeted by a bunch of what she assumed to be some crazy, hungry, and lost spirits. Martha at least now seemed to be a little bit more at peace. Maybe she could reason with them and simply ask them to let Greg go.

The spirits were not pleased at all with her simple request. They wanted Greg to pay for what he had done. The spirits lifted their voices in unison: We want Greg to pay for his crimes against nature. He has killed, hunted, and hurt a lot of animals. For these actions, he needs to pay with his life!

Before Greg was whisked away to the spirit realm, Martha snapped her fingers and Greg was free. Martha chanted a quick spell underneath her breath and the earth opened up underneath the spots where the spirits were standing. They fell into the holes in the ground.

Greg wiped the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead: Phew! I’m sure glad that’s all over.

Martha squinted her eyes and stared at Greg: See…next time you better stop to bless your catch when you go into the hunting patch deep in the forest.

#CORVUS

Mercredi 21.05.2025

Greg waved his hands, and smiled at Martha. But Martha did not smile back. He watched as the skin on her face began to twist, and turn inside out— ‘n’ about- that startled & frightened him.

He stared back at his hands, and noticed that his fingers were changing to different colors as if he was looking through a kaleidoscope. Greg shook his head, and soon a wave of water splashed out from his elephant like ears. This was quite a bizarre day. Either he was on stage, and had been placed into some kind of trance, or this was really happening and there was no way out of his current reality!

#CORVUS

Mardi, 20th May, 2025.