The raven had called the little attic home for months now. Surrounded by quiet and stillness, it had been a peaceful, comforting respite for a weary traveller. Like a tired old furniture sheet pulled up for warmth on a winter's night, he had nested into the forgotten space as if he'd always belonged there. Through a tiny window that spilled generous sunlight across the wooden floor, he'd watch the day awaken, observe the faint sounds of a family stirring to life below.

Sometimes he flew down to amble curiously through the backyard while the house slept. He found succulent berries growing on a little tree by the rear fence and juicy insects in the unkempt grass. A child's abandoned toys dotted the overgrown lawn, their bright plastic colors faded under seasons of rain and sun. When the hunger inside him woke, the yard became his garden.

The homeowners rarely made an appearance outside, so the raven assumed his daily rhythms undisturbed. These humans remained mysteries who slept and ate their lives away indoors, hidden away behind draped windows. He only knew them as background players, identified by the muffled noises from the floors under his. Their unintelligible voices simply comprised part of the greater quiet that enveloped his solitary roost.
Until one day, he discovered he was not the sole occupant of that leafy refuge. One morning while rustling for grubs beneath the splendid little fruit tree, a small face peered out at him from across the yard. The raven paused, feathers ruffling, not quite startled but suddenly intrigued by this new addition to the landscape. Large hazel eyes considered him from a safe distance as he inspected his visitor in turn. A little girl - the child who owned the faded toys scattered about, no doubt. A young human, more impression than fully realized.

She did not have the jaded wariness from years of weather and worry that seemed to follow most people the raven observed outdoors. Cautious curiosity, shaded lightly with wonder, presented upon her fresh features instead. When she noticed his gaze reciprocal to her own, a smile broke across her face. She raised one small hand in a gesture of greeting - it reminded him of a new fawn taking first steps into the forest clearing.

"Hello bird!" the child called softly. Her feather-light voice matched her frame. Everything about this creature seemed budding on the cusp of unveiling, fragile with expectancy.

Before such artlessness, the vigilant tension seeped slowly from his shoulders. The raven gentled too, more out of instinct than conscious choice. He answered her innocent welcome with a steady bright-eyed gaze, but made no other motion.

So they stood awhile assessing one another across the small distance that separated their worlds...