Emily is Saved by a Bird
Somewhere in the woods a corpse was lying on the ground.
It was wearing a torn blood soaked white t-shirt. There was a large hole in its chest where someone had left a branch embedded in its chest. Its head was hanging onto its neck by barely an inch of skin and its glassy eyes were staring at the night sky. One of its arms was bent backwards at an angle entirely incompatible with its bones and the other rested by its side.
There was a long golden needle with a golden flower at one end stabbed into the corpse's stomach.
The corpse lay there undisturbed by scavengers and wildlife for a long while. The needle glowed softly in the night, warning the animals the corpse was steeped in evil magic.
Near dusk a magpie flew by and spotted the shiny golden needle. He landed near the corpse and walked in circles around it, steeling itself to brave the scent of unnatural magic and death that still lingered in the area. He hopped up on the corpse and pecked at its stomach, and then pulled the needle out and proudly strut in a circle with the pretty thing in its beak.
Suddenly the corpse twitched, and the magpie immediately hopped back, the needle slipping out of his grasp and landing by the corpse's hand. It slowly raised that hand, and then gently waved at the bird. Then it picked up the needle and held it out for him to take. The magpie cautiously approached the corpse and grabbed the needle, quickly flying away.
Emily watched the magpie fly away and smiled. She wished it well. It was going to be a long night before she could get herself out of this ditch but she wasn't going to die.
She might not be alive, but she wasn't quite dead yet.
