Ran into a face I haven’t seen for over a year. To be truthful, I forgot all about kir, even though ke is the one that inspired me to seek out gender-neutral pronouns in the first place.
“Well. Hello there, Raven. To what do I owe this honor? And how deep is the shit I’ve fallen into?”
“Well. Hello there… Weaver… right? You’re a little more put together than the last time we talked face to face. Just wanted to remind you I’m still here if you need me.”
“Not much more put together than the last time I was here. Hey, you just… disappeared. What happened? Did I err?”
Raven laughed. “No. You just didn’t need me on the outside anymore. Have you looked at yourself lately? And have you looked at me?”
So, here I am, sitting on a tombstone under a lone tree on a far hill, with a black feather masked headdress, with my feather cloak wrapped around me, while Raven leaned over me, wearing an androgynous version of my face, with a near buzz-cut afro, in a black long tail tux and black gloves stroking my feathers.
I could only laugh. Ke laughed with me.
“You know, you are more than you think. The more you stop trying to fit other people’s expectations, the more you’ll find yourself. You won’t see ‘me’ like this again, unless you want to.”
“So, it’s official. I’m a Raven.”
“Oh Weaver. Weaver Many-[redacted]. When that clue-by-four hits you, it’s going to be glorious. You’ll have enough stars to make a new universe.”
Raven embraced me in a mutual hug and we forgot ourselves in each other.
I sat alone on the tombstone under the lone tree on the far hill. I watched the clouds in the distance as I held vigil over my grave.