"Edwin and the Epidemic" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Sometime in early Spring, Edwin the crow noticed a change in the Walmart parking lot where he lived. The Humans that came and went looked afraid and some of them covered their faces.

Edwin's usual snack route was also impacted by the unknown crisis. Most of the people that used to give him food just ignored him and walked away.

One day Edwin saw two humans arguing over a shopping basket filled with white paper. Edwin often had scraps with other birds over food or something practical, but he had never fought over paper. Humans could be very strange.

Julie was Edwin's only close human friend and he was good at spotting her car as she drove into the parking lot. Edwin loved listening to Julie talk. Of course he couldn't understand the words but he was able to sense some of the emotion behind them.

One hot Spring day, Julie had brought some yummy snacks for Edwin and the rest of the gang. After the food was gone, all the other birds departed but Edwin stayed and in his own way listened to Julie pour out her troubles.

 Not quite sure what to do, he flew to the top of one of the trees in the parking lot and clipped a blossom with his beak. He then dropped the flower at Julie's feet. Edwin wasn't quite  sure if Julie were happy or sad with the flower, but he sensed he had done something magical.