Brian Christopher Giddens
Jasper and I went walking today. The routine neighborhood jaunt, Jasper sniffing the bushes, the grass, checking to see who’s been traveling by, lifting his leg to leave his responses along the way. Me, I’m free-associating thoughts competing for attention in my brain, my mind like a pinball machine. Same old, same old.
We round a corner, and what do we see? A crow and a rabbit, face to face on a patch of grass, less than a foot apart. They’re staring at each other, not moving. As if we’d interrupted their interspecies conversation and they’re waiting for us to move on.
Jasper looks up at me and I look down at him. What to do? Crow turns his sleek black head and gives me the stink eye, but Rabbit’s gaze is still fixed on Crow. My imagination sparks. Are they an ill-fated pair? The Romeo and Juliet of the natural world, secretly meeting for a brief moment of passion? Can they physically be passionate? What would happen if Crow and Rabbit conceive? Would that create a crabbit, perhaps a black fluffy thing that can fly as well as hop? That would be cool. I wonder if the crabbit would be smarter than a typical rabbit or dumber than the normally highly intelligent crow? But even if it’s the latter, if the crabbit could jump and fly, and have both a sharp beak and a fluffy pom pom tail, it might all be worth it.
Jasper pulls at the leash, obviously embarrassed by me standing there, open-mouthed, staring. I wake up from my perverse James Thurber moment and we pass Crow and Rabbit as discretely as we can, veering to the far side of the walk. Heading home, I can’t help but think there’s a helluva lot in this big old world I’ll never understand.
Brian Christopher Giddens writes fiction and poetry from his home in Seattle, where he lives with his husband, and Jasper the dog. Brian’s writing has been featured or is forthcoming in the New York Times (Tiny Love Stories), Sequestrum, Litro, Allium, Raven’s Perch, Rue Scribe, Chiron Review, and other publications.
Website: https://www.brianchristophergiddens.com
Featured photo by Alexas Fotos (Pexels)
