The Raven, The Sparrow, and the Mango Tree (Conclusion)

 

The sparrow darted forward and pecked at the golden mango. For a moment, the sweetness filled her beak, warm and dripping like honey. She chirped in delight.

But suddenly, the air grew heavy. The wheat around the tree rustled as though something unseen had awakened. The scarecrow’s button eyes gleamed with an eerie light, and its stitched smile twisted into something darker.

The raven let out a sharp cry.
“Fly! Now!”

But it was too late. The branches of the mango tree began to shift. They creaked and bent unnaturally, wrapping around the sparrow like claws. The mango she had bitten into turned black, oozing thick sap that burned like fire.

The sparrow struggled, wings beating furiously. “Help me!” she cried.

The raven leapt from his perch, diving at the branches with his beak and talons, tearing at the wood. With each strike, the scarecrow flinched, as though its own body was being wounded.

Realizing the truth, the raven shouted, “It’s bound to the tree! The scarecrow and the mangoes are one!”

With one final desperate strike, the raven pecked at the glowing button eye of the scarecrow. A terrible shriek echoed across the field, half wind, half human, as the tree shuddered violently.

The branches loosened just enough for the sparrow to break free. She darted out, gasping, her feathers singed with dark sap.

Then—silence. The scarecrow slumped back lifeless, its smile once again stitched and harmless. The mangoes shriveled, dropping to the ground like stones.

The sparrow, shaken but alive, turned to the raven.
“What… what was that?”

The raven’s black eyes gleamed.
“Not every fruit is meant to be eaten. Some trees feed on more than hunger.”

The sparrow shivered, glancing back at the lifeless scarecrow.
“But if the scarecrow is dead now, is it over?”

The raven spread his wings, staring toward the horizon where another field stretched. In the distance, faint shapes of other scarecrows dotted the land.

“No,” he said grimly.
“This was only one of many.”

And with that, the two birds took flight, leaving behind the cursed field, while the silent scarecrows in the distance seemed to turn their heads ever so slightly… watching.