Character · Crow Guardian
Chandra
A large crow that does not scatter. An ancient manuscript in the Treasure Room holds that ancestors return to us as ants or crows, to guide us through life — as the moon, Chandra, guides the stars.
Unlike the other birds, which scatter at anyone’s approach, this one remains — watching from a telephone pole, head tilted as if studying them.
Shoo! It merely shifts position and continues watching.
Later, cawing through a suffocating silence: ruffled feathers, beady black eyes, cocking its head as if trying to communicate.
The explanation, when it comes, is from a tattered manuscript in the Treasure Room, in an unfamiliar script:
Sometimes, our dear ancestors return to us, in the form of ants or crows, to guide us through life, just as the moon, Chandra, guides the stars through the night sky.
A silent watcher who understands more than she should. Chandra sees everything. That is precisely why nobody notices her.