Bird of Midnight
16-year-old Ingrid Mells was just starting another day as she normally would: catching up on the latest through social media while trying to get to school on time. That's when she saw the crows.
We need to be prepared.
Ruby and I walked out of my house and onto the hard concrete, smiling and holding hands. We traced our usual path to the popular coffee shop of downtown Lupinia. Although we did see a couple people looking askance in our direction, we simply ignored them as we opened the door of the vintage coffee shop, hearing the little tinkle of the bell above.
A friendly voice greeted us as we stepped inside. "Hello! What can I get for you both today?" A bright and cheery figure emerged from the back with a huge smile.
"Hi, um could I get a coffee?" I asked.
"Sure! What would you like?" the barista asked.
"I'll take some iced tea please," Ruby replied.
"Got it! Your orders will be ready in a bit!" the cheery barista returned to the back.
Ruby and I found a seat by the window and we sat across from each other.
"Okay, so we're going to need a plan if we want to get a picture of the crow," I started.
"Right. From what we know, the bird should come every two days, so sometime on Tuesday, we need to be prepared," Ruby finished.
"A coffee for you, and sweet tea for you! Anything else you need girls?" The barista had come with their drinks.
"No thanks, we're good," Ruby replied with a smile.
The barista left, and we continued our plan.
"Since it's summer break, I'll see if I can come over to your house on Tuesday, and we'll wait outside until the crow comes. And when it does, we'll have our phones ready to take a picture!" I proposed. "Unless you have any other ideas?"
"No, that's actually kind of what I was thinking!" she shook her head.
"Great!" I gently blew on my coffee and sipped the warm beverage. "Now since we've established a plan for Tuesday, we need to establish a plan for the rest of today. Do you want to come over to my house? We can just hang there until it's time for you to go,"
"Sure, that sound okay to me. Here, I'll pay,"
"No, last time you paid. And plus, I promised that I would pay this time, remember?" I emphasised as I pulled out my phone to grab the money I had stored in the case.
"Fine. Then next time I'm paying," Ruby said with a sigh, putting away her purse.
The barista came back and I handed her the money. She signed it and handed me the receipt, which I stored inside my phone case, to later move to one of my desk drawers. After the barista left, Ruby and I got up and left the coffee shop, a little tinkle of the bell left in our wake as we walked back home, her hand in mine.