Story Revision

On an old farm in the middle of nowhere, an even older farmer adjusts the posture of his weathered scarecrows: Lump and Maurice. Before walking back to his farmhouse, the farmer barks at the surrounding crows. The crows attempt perching atop of Lump, but quickly retreat after Lump intimidates them with a scare. Lastly, the crows make their way to Maurice, who is happy to receive some company. The crows “talk” to Maurice as he nods in affirmation. The crows fly away after speaking their mind and Maurice welcomes the next. Disgruntled with Maurice’s tolerance, Lump scolds him. Maurice brushes it off by mocking his grouchy counterpart, who then returns to his irritated position. 

Time passes and the farmer notices a crop which has been picked away at by crows. Lump watches in fear as his farmer walks away dissatisfied. Hoping to find some equal concern, he turns to Maurice. Instead Maurice is blissfully unaware and surrounded by a murder of crows. Furious, Lump tries again to discipline the reckless scarecrow. This time however, the reckless scarecrow is backed by a dozen birds. As Maurice mocks an anxious Lump once more, the crows join in. The murder starts to swarm Lump and the sounds of cawing become louder and louder. Suddenly, the chaos is interrupted by shots from a rifle. A mess of black feathers fill the air as the crows depart. 

As they fly away they reveal Lump, who was caught in the crossfire, now laying destroyed across the ground, straw and hay seeping from his worn flannel. It begins to rain. We see Maurice standing over his now defunct partner. He is perfectly still and his head hangs low, weighed with his decisions. The rain slowly washes away his smile. That’s when the farmer walks by, scaring off the remaining crows before swapping out Maurice’s worn face with one much more scary and intimidating. As the farmer walks away, we get one last look at the farm and the enormous amounts of death that plague the field, crops and scarecrows alike.