Crow Knows

Hullo!

I feel like it's been a while since my last update of "Saturday" the book.  A week or so, if my math is right.  So here's the skinny: I just finished page 32 and have begun pages 33 and 34 (they're part of a two page spread that's mildly insane in its detail and scope).

But, as far as these updates are concerned, we're only on page 17 (Remember?  I had to start over because I'm not drawing pages fast enough to keep up with a weekly update).

At any rate, India and her family have finally managed to survive the gauntlet that was the workaday week (which, in old-timey talk, is comprised of five "livelong" days).  Each and every one of those weekdays got progressively worse, like the "Police Academy" movies.  And, also like the "Police Academy" movies, everyone was near tears at the end.  But at least now it's Saturday, and everyone is safe.

Safe, but not sound.  Because a bad week has a way of causing emotional stress that stays with you.  Like a "Police Academy" movie.  Fortunately, India's parents have finally noticed she's a bit down in the mouth and are on the case.  A little collusion between India's mom and Thelonius might just help set things right.

Have I introduced Thelonius yet?

Thelonius is India's pet crow.  He makes a couple of appearances earlier in the book, but he's fairly inert until...well, until today.  Thelonius is a bit of a trouble maker, which is sometimes just the thing for a debilitating case of ennui.

Crows, I understand, are pretty sharp.  They can figure things out.  They can remember things.  They can recognize faces.  And I guess they can even be taught to speak.  Thelonius is no slouch in the smarts department, either.  He's wearing a tie, after all.  It's probably even a full Windsor knot.  Not just one of those half-Windsors.

Maybe old Thelonius is using his crow smarts and his penchant for trouble to help out his buddy India.  Or maybe he's just an animal, doing whatever he wants to do, blissfully unaware he's being anthropomorphized into an empathetic character.  But if he didn't want to get anthropomorphized, he really shouldn't have worn the tie.

But tie or no tie, Thelonius is just about be the catalyst for a crazy series of events.

In the words of Jack Kerouac: "...and the things that were to come are too fantastic not to tell."



Cheers.