THE MORNING SUN SLANTS through the trees and disappears into the dark hole that is the Void. A group of raucous crows gathers around the edge, squawking to each other the way they do, pecking at invisible things in the grass and in the air. The sun picks up the iridescence of their feathers, edging the black with purple and green. I wind my long hair into a loose bun, securing it with a stick, and think about how my Granny Noreha would call them a storytelling of crows, rather than a flock or a muster. In her tradition, they are the keepers of spiritual law through the telling of stories. I love their sounds and consider their presence a good omen. I stand at the edge of the woods that stop short of the Void. There is a little meadow in between, carpeted in dense, knee-high grass that grows right up to the Void, almost hiding it. Even from this distance, I can see the path of two sets of footprints crossing the damp grass, up to the edge of the Void. Crossing, but not returning.
I saw them jump, both of them. They didn't see me, but I saw them. They stood a few feet back from the edge. Holding hands, they looked at each other, calm as ice. Then they ran the few steps to the edge and jumped, clearing the sides of the Void and disappearing. I held my breath, as if expecting them to reappear, peeking over the edge, telling me it was all a joke. I had been pretty sure they were going to do it, because I'd been called here, but still, seeing it left me breathless. I thought my heart had stopped with my breath. It was just so final. They existed in my world one moment and then they didn't. No sound, no panic, no hesitation, no leader and no follower.
Should I have tried to stop them? Not that I could have. They walked into the clearing with purpose, and they hurtled themselves forward into the Void with the same purposefulness. It felt natural, easy. As it happened, I was mesmerized by it, as if into a trance. To be honest, intervening hadn't even occurred to me.
I wondered what would happen to them now. I stood quietly for a while, not ready to abandon them yet. I'd known someone else who had jumped, and I hadn't been there to witness it. It helped to be here for this jump. So I stood and watched for a while, as the sun began to warm the clearing, and the crows continued holding court.
I was so engrossed in my secret watching, I could not have noticed that someone else watched me.