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.