Another silent day. The boy took a breath as he laid back, the sky still shining lightly, the light barely concealed by the blossoming branches of the tree.

His eyes closed as he took a breath, arms behind his head and letting the sunlit shapes dance across his eyelids. A silent breeze followed, his hair tossed to the side by the feeling of the wind.

It only took another moment for his mind to fade, already drifting from the slight motions. His body rolled slightly, pressing onto the grass as his breath flickered from his body. The cool blades of the hill brushed against his face, a slight chill making him shake. Still, his mind drifted, at ease and calm, the feelings around him barely making him react.

A mild chirp forced him awake, and the flapping of a couple of wings shook his sight. He barely registered a thing as he rose, shaking himself to a bare level of awareness. He looked around for a moment before smiling, the small brown blur in the tree above still clear enough for him to notice.

“That time of year already, huh? I guess it's not only my tree now.”

He gave a contented sigh as he laid back down. His eyes closed again, his mind still drifting as chirps continued to penetrate the silence.

“Hey come on man! The end of the school year has to be celebrated!” Stino just finished his last exam and was just about to go home. “Sorry guys, not this time… I’ve got some thinking to do. Maybe I’ll catch u guys later!”
His friends mumbled a bit, but left within a few minutes for their desire for beer.
Stino was unlocking his bike, but he suddenly stopped.

“Hey Stino, where are you going?” A long-haired blonde girl came next to him.
“Uhh.. I.. You?” Stino turned red when he realised he was stammering again.
The girl laughed. “Where do u think, silly? To the discotheque ofcourse!” She suddenly turned red too.. “I.. was kind of hoping u would join me.”

Stino’s heart began beating like crazy. “Uhh.. Actually.. uhh.. yea!”
When they arrived at the discotheque, they noticed their friends were already getting drunk.
They both got bored pretty fast and Margrit invited Stino for a walk.
While both of them were very nervous, their conversation advanced pretty fast. At the end they were laughing and began to feel at ease…

After they ended up sitting on a bench, they both became extremely quiet…
Stino looked up and noticed Margrit was staring at him. He suddenly became very nervous again, but after a moment Stino eventually closed his eyes and came closer to her face…
His lips touched hers… Their tongues began to wrestle in their mouths…
After a few minutes they stopped.
“You think we should get back?” Asks Margrit.
“Nah. they’re fine without us… lets just stay for a while…”

"A sudden flashback... Please, no...

The bell rang.
Friday's class was over. Another weekend was about to start.
I sighed. It didn't mean happiness to me. There was a reason why I hated weekends, and Fridays.
There they went, my classmates. I didn't hold anybody particular back; I preferred being alone and hated the masses of people in the locker room.
Five more minutes I sat, staring on my watch. Just like I usually used to do.

The moment I reached the locker room, I suddenly shivered.
Yes, I saw her. Nobody else.
It was too late to turn back, she had spotted me. And smiled at me.
The evil smile I knew so well all the past years.
It was completely paranoid.

Being the polite person I was, I didn't turn around and go. Or rather, it was something much bigger.
Slowly I approached the girl.
I walked past her, put my bag on the bench and unlocked my locker.
I was lost in thought. I didn't know what to do.
I felt like she was watching every tiny movement I did.
More shivers.
'Did you like that speech?', she asked me calmly. Her voice shattered through the invisible force wall which had seperated my thoughts from my rationality.
'Constantine's speech? It was... alright... I guess...', I slowly said, trying to keep calm. With the corners of my eyes I glanced at her.
I tied my shoelaces, while I heard her closing her locker.
There was some silence. Finally I closed my locker and got back to my bag.
She was still arranging some stuff in hers.
I hesitated.
'Hannah', I said. She looked at me, and I watched her eyes.
I had never done that often.
Her eyes were not beautiful; that would have been an insult to their real pulchritude.
There was something in the eyes, catching me.
What did her smile tell me? That little smile.
And I forced myself...
Slowly I went up to her. And I took her in my arms.
She replied the hug.
She replied the hug...
She replied it...
I could have cried. I could have died.
I didn't try to kiss her. It could have ruined our friendship. And my pride. And my life.
What did I live for, then?
30 seconds passed, and my heart exploded.
I let go. Unwillingly. But conscience took overhand. Just when my feelings had come to a weak point.
And I watched her gentle face, as its smile widened. Beyond imagination.
'You're so cute', she whispered.
I turned to get my bag.

She's distant to me now. Because she knows I love her.
With her help, I managed to see colours. Beautiful colors. Colours of life. They've never been here before.
I had been blind before. Truly blind.
How could I be that stupid?
Colours of happiness, colours of love, colours of life...
Why are they fading? Fading away? Fading to black?
What have I become? What have I become?
Those colours...!
I don't want to lose them... ... ..."

I watched the people as I walked down the crowded main street.
I watched everyone who hurried to their jobs, I saw people fleeing from the rain.
I often find it amusing to watch the “normal” people’s lives.
As I was looking around, my watch started beeping. It was time.

I rushed down the street, wearing my coat and a suit to blend in perfectly.
Anyone looking at me would have said I was just another business-guy. As I crossed the street my watch started making noises again.
Five minutes was passed. I had to keep up the pace if I was supposed to make it in time.
I went down another block and stopped right outside a large hotel. “Continental” There was several stars over the name to show customers the luxury of this hotel.
Personally I could not have cared less.
I had my instructions and I knew exactly how to execute the plan I was given.
My client had been desperate about this mission, so he paid well.

I went straight into the hotel and located the elevators.
I hurried towards them and avoided eye-contact as much as possible.

As I hurried through the corridors on 6th floor, I kept my eyes out for any possible threat.
I found the room marked “657” and started knocking heavily on the door. I heard some loud voices from inside, and continue knocking to stress the persons inside.
I hear some clicks then a man in black suit, probably a bodyguard, opens the door.

The guard manages to say “what the...” and seconds later he falls to the floor, with a red mark in his forehead.
I jump over the body and shortly after, a small, slightly overweight man in a bathrobe comes into the room.
He’s face is red as a tomato until he sees my gun pointing at him. Suddenly his face turns pale and he starts stubbering.

“W-what do you want me!?”
“You have stolen something you should not possess, Mr. Zowalsky”
I replied in a calm and cold manner.
“And I represent a bunch of people who want you to return what you have stolen..”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
The mans voice were completely out of control, and I knew I was frightening him enough.
“Although I find you slightly amusing, Mr. Zowalsky I’m afraid I have to kill you.”

As I hurried to the elevator assured that the documents was safe in my inner pocket.
I went back out on the street, and continued to the nearest fast-food store. As planned a man with black suitcase and a blue suit was waiting for me.
As I passed him, I discreetly handed him the documents, and continued walking.
I could already feel the ten million dollars flowing into my bank-account. As I walked down the streets I stopped to take a drink at a local bar. When I drank the first sip of whiskey two words raced through my mind.
“Mission Accomplished”

There he laid; his eyes still widened from the shock he has experienced just two minutes ago. The moon was showing every single feature of his face. Ray felt relieved. This man that terrorized him wasn’t anymore. There was just his body, silent, yet still warm from the ultimate fight that he lost. On a tree, right in front of the window, sat a raven observing the entire scene.

It was his look that Ray could not accept: the crooked mouth, the long nose, the deep crinkles. But most of all, his bright blue eyes, seemingly looking through everybody, were the thing Ray was not able to stand. Three weeks before, Ray conceived the perfect crime. At midnight, he’ll enter that man’s house and strangle him in his sleep. Everything was completely planned.

Even in death these eyes had something threatening that Ray made cringing. “That plan has to be executed quickly”, Ray whispered to himself. He pulled out a piece of cloth that he brought from home and blindfolded the corpse. This way, the evil eyes didn’t bother him anymore. Afterwards, he grabbed the dead man and carried him down into the basement. There, on the left side, between a couple crates filled with fish, was a big hole in the wall.

Ray has been here a few times already, he knew exactly what to do. In order to commit the perfect crime, he had closely gathered every little bit of information. He visited that man’s house the last seven days, always at midnight. Each time he noticed the raven sitting on that branch in front of that old man’s window.

Carefully, Ray manoeuvred the man’s body into the hole in the wall. Ray was so occupied; he didn’t even notice the mouse quickly escaping out of the hole. But that was not necessary; there was no one close by that could have disturbed him. Finally, he had the man the way he wanted him to be: standing in an upright position, facing the inside of the wall. “Now your eyes will never scare me again”, Ray said while pulling off the cloth. He looked around, just to ensure that everything was going like he planned. The entire wall was covered by wooden planks. Ray had pulled off the planks to uncover the hole earlier ago. With greatest affection to details, he put every plank back to its original place.

“The wall looks like it has never been touched. The fish will outdo the corpse’s smell. Now, back into the sleeping room, to finish the last parts.”

Back upstairs, Ray quickly continued his master plan. He made the old man’s bed like there has never been any incident and cleaned up the trails of fighting. He looked out of the window -- directly into the raven’s eyes. Was it just a hallucination? The raven seemed having piercing blue eyes that closely watched him. Ray couldn’t move anymore; he just felt the same threat again that he eliminated a few hours ago. A ticking sound appeared in his mind, slowly becoming louder. Ray felt deeply in himself that something was wrong. The ticking became louder and louder. It was taking up all of Ray’s consciousness. While Ray was shivering all over his body, the raven still watched him, cold and silently. The ticking swelled, still, and became deafening. “This is the end”, Ray thought to himself. Then he collapsed.

The next morning, a dead body laid on the floor, right next to the made bed. The man seemed to be gone through hell; he was all contorted, with a mix of desperation and shock on his face. The raven was gone and never seen again.