Never mine to keep.

A murder of crows circle above, crying and cawing while flying, excited about something urgent I can not see. Trees reach like broken arms and bony fingers stretching crooked in every direction, defying the gravity that wants to pull everything down.

My heart scrapes along the rough pavment as I walk to my vehicle. I look behind me to make sure no one sees any blood streaks leading back to me.

I look around to see miracles and possibilities everywhere and in everything. I see joy and happiness just within my reach. I stare at it all swirling around me in an impossibly beautiful medley, in a spectacle few could believe.

My vehicle growls and groans along the road it's already moved down many times before. Stripes and arrows, lights and signs, all trying to tell me where I need to go, but I've followed them all my life and they never lead me anywhere I truly needed to be.

Something in me I can not explain nor see, is compelling me to turn off road, and follow in the direction of the unknown. Only once I can no further go, abandon my vehicle and walk deep into the forest alone.

To return my bones to where they belong. To be bleached white by the sun, and scattered in every direction by the animals that have no master. The wild creatures who will love this lost meat with their sharp teeth the way no one else ever could. To Return what never belonged to me, what was never mine to keep.