The Gilded Nest Quotes

“There was a tapping sound that was distracting Lydia. A crow was standing outside the bifold doors that led to the twilit garden, tapping on the glass with its beak. ‘Hang on a sec.’ Lydia patted Jason and walked to the door. The crow didn’t move. She slid it open and stepped into a light drizzle. The kind of rain that wasn’t falling, just sitting in the air ready to saturate your clothes by stealth. She looked at the crow. ‘What?’ It cocked its head. Stared. Lydia looked up at the back of the house. A line of crows were sitting on the apex of the roof, framed by the red sky. The one on the ground croaked as if it was clearing its throat. And then it let out a sound like a car alarm chirping. Crows were excellent mimics, Lydia knew, but why this one was impersonating a car alarm was beyond her. As mysterious messages went, it wasn’t helpful. ‘Thank you,’ she said. No harm in being polite. Especially when speaking to a corvid with a wickedly sharp beak. ‘Anything else?’ The crow hopped away and watched her from its new position on the square of lawn. Lawn that needed cutting. ‘Right-o.”
― Sarah Painter, The Gilded Nest

“If you kept on taking pieces from each other, eventually there was nothing left.”
― Sarah Painter, The Gilded Nest