https://everythingspeakstome.com/files/original/1792a1993dbfad237269047c11889150.png 278e72506d68c4528209a437fe3e7295 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource After The Rise ... Description An account of the resource Using elevations and water level projected on EyesOnTheRise.com, these speculative fictions explore the world that was Miami after sea levels rise 6 or more feet. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Administrator Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Please post your written submission in this field. The images you would like to include should be posted as attachments below. 2090. Another year of insane weather and water, and the streams cover the once streets of former Kendall, now simply the floodlands. The land is overtaken by groves which cover the formerly gray structures with rooted flora. The water is about 9 feet deep this year and full of teeth lurking in the murky water. The fauna of this land is unkind even to itself, thousands of critters battling over scraps of each other, small and large from many genus, seeking to live another humid day in this sulfur smelling land. It is October, the rainy season has ended and more avians than ever have begun nesting in the groves, ducks, geese, hawks, songbirds, blue jays, house sparrows, so many feathers and so many eggs. But, rarely do those eggs ever make it to feathering. Ferocious felines still living in the floodlands make quick meals out of hatchlings, corn snakes making their way to nests to feast on protein rich eggs, or the hatchlings simply starve from a missing parent. One group stand above the rest however to maintain their feathered flock, crows. One of the few avians to make home in Miami without being water friendly, the crows are notorious for their family focused flights and fights, and are known to take down hawks with as little as four crows. The largest murder has just grown again, with new hatchlings opening their black beady eyes for the first time, but that is not when we will start the story, but a few months past in the winter months. We look now at a large grove near the former Lady of Lourdes Church, where a large grove has anchored in it’s bell tower, as our murder of the hour resides inside. There are three small crows inside, a curious but socially inept Uque, a rambunctious but egotistic Dalfa, and an honest but overly friendly Qito, being berated by one of their elder crows. Corvus is the name of this crow and he stands tall among the rest, looking more like a raven than a crow due to his size, telling the trio of how they should never feast near the shores of the groves and to take their food to higher grounds. He especially looked at Qito, noting how he even tried to sit on a gator’s head while he ate. Uque would try to say something, but the large crow wouldn’t understand what message the small crow would try to say. Corvus, after berating the trio for nearly 10 minutes now, would resign to simply returning to his nest. The trio, being young and stupid, did not take Corvus’ berating to heart and simply went to hear more stories from Polko, a grayed older crow with a wellspring of knowledge beyond their years, they were the one who taught the crows the way of the murder, and the one to teach them the regrets and grudges of the murder too. After pestering her for a small while, Polko would give in and tell them of one of their former predators, a burrowing owl. She had told how the murder would always have trouble with a burrowing owl, even now when the burrowing is no longer relevant. She would tell them how their murder fought back against the owls for years and finally had driven away most and eaten a few, with only one lone owl left in the floodland. This burrowing owl is older than Polko herself, and likely just as wise as her when it comes to remembering the history of the time in the groves. Upon hearing this, Uque would ask if there is stuff the owl would know that Polko would not, for which she would respond that while she has a large amount of knowledge from generations of crows, they are merely oral telling with bias and speculation, and that the owl would likely have her beat in accuracy. Uque, now brimming with curious glistening eye, would declare to his siblings and Polko that he will find the owl and learn even more. This would result with Dalfa laughing and saying that he wouldn’t get past the “hellos” with how jumpy he is, and declared she would go too to bring the confidence. Qito would then pipe up saying you two would get yourselves eaten before even saying your “hellos”, you’re too loud and chaotic for the owl to see you not as a threat, so I will go too to make friends with the owl Qito declared. The trio, after further declarations, would agree on leaving the next morning to find the owl in the grove, and learn what he would say. The next day, the crows would go on a routine flight they had done everyday for weeks by Corvus’s demand, and find a time where they could change paths without the old corvid knowing. Once they had found a flight far enough from him, the trio changed paths to look for the “wise owl” as Uque would coin him. Hours would pass like this, searching the groves for food and the “wise owl” until Dalfa would stumble upon a grove with a low bearing nest in it, and presume it to be the owl’s burrow. After Qito and Uque arrived, the trio peered inside to see a now awake and wide eyed owl staring at them, wings opened to the side making it look larger. Dalfa, unlike Uque, would not be intimidated by fake size and would yell at the owl to lower his wings or they’ll change their plans to actually finishing him off. Qito would add that they are not here to fight, we are here to take, confusing the owl for he had nothing clear to take. Uque would perk up and say that we are here to hear what you tell, what stories you have of the grove. The owl would unfurl his feathers and while confused, would sit and tell them a story so long as they promised to not inform the murder of his location. Agreeing, the trio would be told a story from decades ago, about large hairless creatures that would walk the land below the water and burrow into giant hard rock and move them from within, their nests now just the anchor for the groves and their rock simply at the bottom of the water now, save for one who lives in the giant cave along the horizon. The owl, who named himself Finn, would tell the trio how this hairless creature lived in a giant cave, and would catch and hold any and all animals he could. It found ways to tame the felines, it found ways to trap the fish out of water, it found ways to control the hawks and found ways to even have the grove listen to it. He would tell this story of the maneless creature until he shuffled in his nest and brought up three items from within. One item was a chipped key, unusable but a relic of the human’s privacy. Another was a small bell, said to be on one of the maneless’ felines but it had removed it some time ago. Last was a pink bendy rod, a pipe cleaner he called it, which apparently was not used for cleaning. The trio would each be given one of these items as a gift of thanks, Uque would receive the key, Qito would receive the bell, and Dalfa would receive the pipecleaner. The trio, upon receiving their gifts, would leave the owl and return to their nest before dusk, grabbing a surplus of berries on the way back and each deciding what to do with their new trinket. As they returned, they found the whole murder in the nest, they saw Polko and Corvus, their older brother Xuel who was still missing his foot, their sister Astel who looks blue compared to the murder, and even their distant uncle John white as snow. The murder was gathered to begin looking for the trio, but now no longer needed too. Corvus and Astel were tired of the trio’s antics while Xuel went to see what they had brought back. John was the first to notice what the trio had brought and told Polko before going between Corvus and the trio. The 3 crows, excited with their items, proudly showed them off, gaining the attention of the whole murder. Xuel and Astel shared their surprise and curiosity at the items, while Corvus was fuming at Polko for telling the youngest crows about the owl. Corvus went to tell the trio that those things were made by the maneless things, they only bring bad luck to anyone holding them and to get rid of them quickly. Of course the trio did not want to, and with Corvus being the odd one out of the murder, he backed off and let them have their way. Shortly after their adventure to the owl and showing their trinkets off, the trio would once again be on a far flight, this time with a new goal in mind. Dalfa had an idea and convinced Uque and Qito to follow her lead. She said that the owl had mentioned to them a giant cave where the maneless lived, and if what Corvus said was true, then the maneless is the one who makes these items, so then he must have more. Dalfa, unbeknownst to her siblings, is incredibly jealous of them. Uque has a shiny key that can open nuts, Qito has a jingly bell that gets everyone’s attention, and all she has is this pink fuzzy stick that's only good at being wet. She hopes that by finding the cave, she can find a better item and once again have everyone’s attention. The crows fly for a long while this time, flying east towards the large concrete structures still standing in the water, and towards the cave the maneless would reside. Among the horizon, the trio would see the cave the owl had mentioned, a large stoney structure with shining walls and groves supporting the entrance, as if it were some magnificent hall. The trio would fly in through one of the holes in the cave’s roof and see a scene like no other. There were plants growing in the cave, growing taller than some gators were long, they would see shining vines hanging from the roof and would smell the pleasant smell of out of season fruits. The trio would be incredibly distracted by the cave’s wondrous interior, with Dalfa being especially beguiled by the material the maneless had so much of, that their wander would only be broken by a noise none of them had ever heard. A deep neigh could be heard behind them, with some clapping sounds following. With a quick fluttering of feathers, the trio would rise to a ledge near the roof of the cave and look down at the noise, seeing something alien to them. They would see what looked like a cat, but was taller and had a longer nose, its fur was short and brown with some longer hair along its neck and tail. It had feet that looked like stamps and a neck like a growing tree. The creature would repeat its neigh at the crows, circling in place and nodding its head down as if it were calling them. Qito took this opportunity to make a new friend and dived down to meet the creature, and learned very quickly that this one didn’t want to eat them. Its teeth were flat, meaning this one was actually friend shaped. This creature was a horse, something unnatural in the floodlands and incredibly rare to see anywhere south of Orlando, and this was the first any crow of the murder had seen one. The horse, named Biscie, would be ecstatic to have visitors, gesturing the trio to follow her to a smaller entrance in the cave. The trio, led by Dalfa now, would follow the horse into its stable, where Dalfa would set her eyes on her new prize. The stable was lit by hanging lights and shining rocks, putting spots of light around the room and illuminating the patch covered ground. While Biscie would share her hospitality with Qito and Uque, Dalfa would seize her prize in the corner near the door. Dalfa had spotted a shiny gold chain leading up the ceiling, with a glistening shell at it’s bottom. Dalfa, in her greed, would then yank the shell, trying to free it from the chain. As she pulled, the shell came loose as a horrid noise would ring above the chain, and footsteps would be heard approaching the room. Quito and Uque would quickly fly through the open hole in the wall as Dalfa would be trying to fly carrying her new shell, and as Dalfa would be nearly out the door, something clasps down on her wings and brings her back into the cave, holding her wings from flight as she would quickly lose her prize and see what the maneless truly was. Dalfa would be locked in a bird cage, a plain aluminum cage with a simple lock hanging near the stable door, her capturer would walk over to a pile of weird dirt, scoop it into a flat shell, and give it to the horse who happily ate the substance. Dalfa is seeing the maneless, a hermit of a human with a bald head wearing a tank-top and shorts, with flimsy sandals. The human’s eyes were fully squinted and it walked with a hunch to its back. The human would turn to leave into another cave and would leave Biscie and Dalfa, who would now use this opportunity to try and fly free, only to be shunted by the cage she was stuck in. Dalfa would be stuck now, only being able to witness what the human decided to do with her. Though, the human did nothing over the several hours left of day light, only occasionally walking around their odd plants and putting water in a small bowl in Dalfa’s cage. She began to ponder why it hadn’t eaten her to which Biscie would stand and shake her head toward the wall near where the human had spent its time. The wall was adorned with hundreds of items, ranging from shiny boxes to spinny apples, and now her pink pipe cleaner. The human would be seen walking back towards the stable room, carrying the shell from before on a new chain, and hanging it from the ceiling once more, giving it a tug to ring a bell and happily returning to its dwelling. Dalfa had now realized why the human hadn’t done anything yet, it’s because this is what the human has left. She had only seen these items where the human was involved, and realized that it must be alone, that is why Biscie was still here, she was his company and the human was her’s. Realizing she had just attempted stealing from something with only itself to care for, Dalfa didn’t want the shell or the pipe cleaner anymore, but wanted to be back with her brothers now. Hours had gone by, and the sun had too, the night wasn’t silent but was still too quiet for Dalfa, she missed hearing the ramblings of her murder and the escapades they were doing during the day, but now she is just a bird who can’t fly away. It was midnight by now, the cave was lit up by the moon and Dalfa could feel the wind just a couple feet above her, and with that sight she saw 2 shadows moving into the cave. Uque and Qito had returned to free her from the cage. Uque, with his key from the owl, jammed it into the cage until the lock broke from misuse, alerting the human as it fell to the floor. As it came running out of its room, Quito used his bell and flew through the stable again, making as much noise as possible and prompting Biscie into a tantrum. The human, distracted by everything, never noticed the empty cage and the trio flew away from the cave. Uque noticed that Dalfa no longer had her pink stick and offered to go back and get it before the human noticed, but Dalfa no longer needed the stick, she just wanted to go back to the grove. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Crows in Groves Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sebastian Perez Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 04/26/2024