The Girl and The Crows

We hear crows cawing in the darkness as a spotlight comes up on Jasmine, a young woman, in The Girl and The Crows.  She begins by telling us that “once upon a time” there was a girl who was afraid of crows, dreamed of them, and threw rocks at them to chase them from the cornfield.  She thinks the crows are following her and has nightmares about them coming out of a mirror at her.  Jasmine tells us that the girl was walking down railroad tracks at sunset and heard a train approaching behind her.  We hear the sound of the train as Jasmine tells us that the girl couldn’t tell how fast the train was coming and heard a voice in her head telling her that no one would ever love her.  She stood on the tracks as the train got closer and the whistle blew louder and louder.  (We hear the sounds of the train and the whistle and then a loud flapping noise of wings.)  Jasmine says a crow flew at the girl’s face and buried its claws in her hair.  Jasmines mimes the action of the girl slapping at the crow as it comes back a second and a third time, finally forcing her off the tracks.  Jasmine falls as the train goes by and we hear the sound of the train fading.  The girl, Jasmine, says, looked up at the crow and asked why it kept flying in her face.  The crow asked why the girl threw rocks at them.  The crow tells the girl he didn’t let the train hit her because she was a child and he had children.  The next day the girl went to the cornfield and told the crow she had decided not to throw rocks.  The crow asks if she would like to meet the crow’s children.  The girl stood up with the crow on her shoulder and from that day on, and for the rest of her life, was never afraid of crows.