The Butcher and The Wren

by Alaina Urquhart

“Who is missing you tonight?” she asks quietly as Jane Doe passes in front of her. A police officer nearby chuckles. “A stiff ever answer you back?” he teases. Wren looks him in the eyes before slamming the door shut and walking to the driver’s-side door. “You’d be surprised how many secrets the dead have told me.”

The Louisiana sun is pretty unforgiving to the living, but it is particularly cruel to the dead.

Is it not enough drama to take a life away? Are they so starved for validation that they have to package their carnage up like a Jack in the Box toy?

Life in a cubicle is truly barbaric.

The room seems to agree that overreacting is highly preferable to possibly risking more lives.

WRENS ARE TRULY MAGNIFICENT LITTLE creatures. They signify rebirth and protection, immortality, and strength. Because of the wren’s small stature, most larger birds and predators underestimate its incredible ingenuity and intelligence. But while technically fragile, the wren outwits its underprepared predator to come out on top when threatened.