Lily feels the thud go through her body, her heart leaping in fright at the feeling. She had brought the umbrella with her because she knew it was going to rain, she smelt it in the air. Lily always had a keen sense for these kinds of things. She hadn’t seen this coming though.

Two beady eyes stare up, more beyond her than at her. Lily looks on in horror and then sadness as the bird just lays there, motionless. It’s eyes as deep and dark as two cavernous pools of water, but more stagnant. Water would have had life flowing through it still, teeming with it even on a microscopic level. There was no life in this bird now. Feathers dark as charcoal would soon disperse into the wind as decay would set in. The small body would gift the stomachs of smaller creatures glad to have a free meal, and the body would return to the ground to complete the cycle.

She ponders on whether the bird had been blind. Perhaps it had been deranged or simply unlucky. At least he had a quick death she notes, thinking of the too many others in her life who had not enjoyed that same blessing.

Lily closes her eyes, saying a small prayer for the bird. Thanking him for reminding her to cherish those dear to her while she can. How quickly a chance encounter can change things.