Another beautiful piece. Why oh why must your writing be so addictive, I'm literally powering through your works and I love every single piece. The way you described Avery was very well done. I adored the ending by the way and how this story tied in with Woodsman. :)

Huh, that was really good! I always do enjoy reading your challenge responses and I do believe I saved the best for last. As I was reading this, I could just picture what was going one. Simply put, this was really well done and amazing. Plus, it seemed really complete. Thanks for making it even more difficult to pick a winner, Augie.

I liked this Augie. I really did. I wasn't such a big fan of Woodsman, but I did really enjoy this. Most times with our contest entries they're left with huge cliffhangers. This entry felt really complete. You had me at the introduction. I liked that the swooping blackbird turned into your main character. How you intricately mixed Avery's birdlike movements while she was in human form was a treat to read. I could really picture her as the events happened. Well done.

Wonderful job! So far it's been really hard to pick a winner!

Excellent! Bravo, Augie - this story has clarity that is complimented rather than complicated by brevity, leaving questions that tantalize rather than irritate. A nod of approval for choosing 'Avery' as the name, too, and for the twenty-four services as well as the medieval use of 'coffin' for a standing pie.
I know you've said you weren't going to continue on with the 'Woodsman', but how interesting to contemplate a Brief Lives of Fairy Tale Creatures - not just back stories, but moments from their existence...
A few small notes: 1st paragraph, 'human's' should be either 'a human's' or 'human'; same paragraph, she is already standing - perhaps 'straightened'; 2nd paragraph from the end, 'Wolves didn't bothered' should be 'bother',