SNOW AS IT FALLS, by Patricia Correll 3/10
The crane was wary of him at first, but as day melted into night and back to day she stopped retreating to the other end of the room when he came home from the fields. Her small bright eyes followed him curiously. Shigeru did not recall when he’d begun to think of the crane as female. He was certain of her sex, though he couldn’t say how. When he spoke to her, which was often, he called her ‘Lady Crane’.
Shigeru had lived alone since the death of his parents. There were years when he had gone an entire winter without speaking to anyone, so that by spring his voice gasped and wheezed like a pump trying to draw water from a dry well. But the crane’s presence compelled him to talk. He feared she would be bored in her convalescence, if he did nothing to amuse her. He began by asking simple questions, though he knew she could not reply- “Is the bandage too tight?” “Did I bring you enough food today?”
The sound of his voice embarrassed him, but over time he grew used to it. Shigeru rose earlier, so that he could talk to the crane awhile before he left for the yam fields. At night he sat by the fire while she rested in front of the door, her long legs tucked beneath her body. He talked about all kinds of things; his parents, his childhood, the state of this year’s harvest, the weather, his brother who lived over the mountain with his family. The crane watched him. Shigeru discovered that he liked having a companion, even if it was only an animal who couldn’t understand his words.
As the days passed the dirt crumbled from the crane’s feathers and her beady eyes grew brighter. The patch on her head turned blood-red, and her throat was as black as the space between the stars. Her feathers were the brilliant white of snow when it falls. Truly the gods were great, to create such a beautiful creature.
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