Hollis stood along the fence line.

A paper bag was caught there, snagged on a bent wire and hanging half open. The wind moved through it in short, uneven pushes, filling it and then letting it collapse with a dry, folding sound.

Hollis stopped.

The bag lifted once, then dropped, then lifted again, the bottom twisting slightly before settling back. He watched the opening of the bag—the way it widened, then narrowed, then closed.

The bag made the sound again, thin and quick.

Hollis stepped forward.

The bag filled suddenly and swung on the wire, and he stopped again as it emptied just as quickly and hung still.

Hollis crouched and reached out one finger.

The bag shifted again, his finger hovering an inch away as the edge moved toward him and then away. The bag collapsed flat, then opened with a sharp crack, and Hollis pulled his hand back.

A crow landed on the fence post two wires down.

The crow looked at the bag once, then at Hollis. “Loose,” the crow said.

Hollis did not answer.

The bag filled again, stretching at the fold while the wire held it.

The crow stepped once along the fence, then stopped. “Stuck,” he said.

Hollis stood and moved closer.

The bag sagged, then turned slightly on the wire, one corner pulled tight and holding there. Hollis reached again, higher this time, touching the edge with two fingers.

The paper pressed inward, then slipped past his fingers, the bag shifting once against his hand before loosening.

Hollis closed his fingers lightly on the edge.

The bag stopped moving, the wire bending slightly where it held as the paper pulled once and then held there.

The crow tilted his head. “Loose,” he said.

Hollis held.

The bag did not move. The wire held. The paper held.

Hollis tightened his grip once.

The paper pulled against the wire, the wire bending before it slipped free.

The bag lifted suddenly, catching the wind, filling once and then again as it moved out across the yard, rising and falling as it went.

The crow lifted at the same time and veered away from it.

Hollis stood where he was, watching until the bag cleared the fence line and disappeared beyond the grass.

Then he turned and went along the fence.

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