Page 75 - KTUDELL E-LIT | Issue 4 - January 2025

SHORT STORIES 2025

In the heart of the forest, where the trees stretched "Because you have the power to kill me."
endlessly toward the heavens, there was a corner The sky was dark and filled with stars. The moon had
touched by both light and shadow. It was a place risen to its highest point but the two of them
where life and death often crossed paths, where the remained unmoving.
eternal struggle for survival played out in countless "What would happen if you can no longer see the
forms. On the edge of an old, weathered roof, a Raven sky?" asked the Snake.
perched, its feathers shimmering faintly in the The Raven was silent. For a long time, it did not
morning light. answer. "Then my life would no longer be mine." said
When the Raven left its nest for its morning flight, it the Raven after a long silence.
hadn’t felt that anything would be different. The sky The Snake pondered these words. In the Raven's eyes,
was endless as always. The air was brisk, the vast there was a trace of sadness. But there were no signs
expanse above filled with promises of freedom. Yet of fear.
hidden among the branches below, danger lay coiled The two of them were quiet for a moment. Instead,
and waiting. When the Raven stretched its wings to they stared at each other, trying to read each other's
take flight once more, it was too late. The Snake minds.
struck with calculated precision, and in the blink of an "Let me go," said the Raven. "And I will remember
eye, the predator of the skies became prey to the you."
shadow of the forest. The Snake was silent for a while. He looked at the sky,
The Raven was stunned as it stared at the tip of the the forest, and then back at the Raven.
Snake’s fangs, dripping with venom. It could not "What it will do for me? You are my prey and I am
understand how it had fallen into the Snake's trap. your predator. That's the real life. You are my food
The Raven struggled violently. The snake did not and I am somebody's food." "This is how it goes." said
loosen its hold, but, tightened it instead. The Raven the Snake. "We're the same, you and I. We're both
felt the strength leaving its body, and its breath came predators and we're both prey. And that's the real life.
in short gasps. The world grew dim, and the Snake You and I will keep on catching and eating and being
was the only thing in its eyes. The Snake writhed with eaten. There will always be others who will prey upon
a sense of victory as it grasped its prey tightly. But this us. There will always be those who are stronger than
was no ordinary prey. The Raven resisted. It struck us. We can only try to survive."
with its beak and scraped with its claws. The snake The Raven was silent for a long time. "Then what do
didn’t know that everything that belonged to the sky we do?"
would fight for freedom. But no matter how strong it "We cannot escape our nature."
was, the Raven’s wings were now entangled. It was an "No," the Raven replied. "We can't." There was truth in
extremely rare chance encounter. A Raven in the sky those words, bitter as the venom of the Snake.
had been caught by a snake on the ground. But hunger gnawed at the Snake’s insides, sharp and
“What do you want from me?” the Raven whispered. unrelenting. Survival demanded sacrifice, and the
The snake paused for a moment. Perhaps it was the Snake had survived this long by listening to the call of
first time he had heard his prey speak, or perhaps its instincts. The Snake tightened its coils slightly,
there was something in those words. “Survival,” said testing the Raven’s strength. The bird flinched but did
the Snake. “At your expense.” not resist. Instead, it turned its gaze fully toward the
The Raven knew the fate awaiting him. This was a Snake, its black eyes reflecting the faint glow of the
battle that could not be won. As the Snake wrapped rising moon.
tighter around its prey, the Raven could see the “And what if I decide not to kill you?” the Snake asked.
future, the end of its life. It could see the Snake “Then you change the story,” said the Raven. “For
devouring it bit by bit, its sharp fangs piercing both of us.”
through its feathers and sinking into its flesh. Then it The Snake paused, its grip loosening just enough for
would be torn to shreds, swallowed piece by piece the Raven to feel it. For a fleeting moment, the
until nothing was left. Raven’s heart surged with a bit of hope. Perhaps this
The Raven thought for a moment. Its eyes lingered on would be the day the cycle broke, the day predator
the sky, on the free-floating clouds. “What about my and prey became something else entirely. The Snake,
survival?” the Raven asked. too, felt the weight of the moment, as though the
The Snake looked into its prey’s eyes, there was a entire forest had fallen silent, waiting for its decision.
longing for the sky—a longing that seemed almost But hunger was louder than hope.
ironic, for mere minutes ago, the Raven had not been For a brief moment, the Snake hesitated, as if caught
in the sky at all. The sky was so vast, and yet, so far between two worlds: one where it let go, and another
away. The Snake could not understand the feelings of where it did not. The sky above seemed endless, yet it
longing for the sky. Its existence was tied to the forest, was as unreachable for the Snake as it now was for the
and its life had been dedicated to the struggle for Raven.
survival. It had no room to think of anything else. But hesitation was not survival.
But the Raven was different. It was a creature born The Raven felt the snake tighten its coils, the pressure
and raised in the sky. Its existence was bound to the crushing its lungs. The Raven felt its heart begin to
endless, unreachable space. The Snake hesitated. But slow, its wings growing limp and useless. It could feel
just as it had done so many times in the past, it the snake squeezing tighter and tighter, its fangs
continued to coil its tail around the Raven, slowly poised to strike. As the Raven struggled for its last
tightening its grip. breath, its fading vision fixed on the sky, its eyes still
A silence fell. As the sun sunk slowly, both of them felt locked on the stars as the light faded from them. The
as if time had stopped for a moment. The Snake Snake tightened its grip, and the silence that followed
stopped questioning. Hunger was as strong as its was deafening. No cries echoed through the trees and
instincts. Finally, the Snake made up his mind. It no triumphant hiss marked the moment. The act was
didn’t let go of the Raven but didn’t squeeze either. done, and the world moved on, as it always does. The
The two of them watched each other on the edge of Snake looked to the sky one last time, the vast
the roof. When night fell, the Raven’s wings stopped expanse of stars now feeling impossibly far away.
moving. But his eyes were on the sky. Perhaps there are stories best left untold, the forest
"What's up there?" asked the Snake. seemed to whisper. Or perhaps this was always how it
"The sky." was meant to be.
"And what is the sky for you?"
"A place without a fear." This is not a story of forgiveness or understanding. It is a
"Do you fear me?" asked the Snake with wonder in its story of hunger, sacrifice, and the thin, fragile line between
eyes. predator and prey. In another time, another place, the
"Of course." Said the Raven, showing no sign of fear in Snake uncoils, the Raven takes flight, and the sky is alive
its eyes. with promises. But here, in the real world, the story ends
"Why?" with silence.
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