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A short story by Robert J.F. Sampron
© 2011 by Robert John Francis Sampron
All rights reserved.
All characters appearing in this work are ficticious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or
dead, is purely coincidental
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So tired. So cold. So wet. This stuff on me, covering my right ear, my right side. I should be sleeping, but I heard coyotes deep in the woods, and have to keep moving.
Why did the big, two-legged animal, the one with that strange, continuous bark, bring me into its warren to play with its pups? Why did it take me out into the woods and throw me out when I was not yet fully grown? I have been walking ever since, always looking for food and water. Food and water. I’m really hungry now. And, I am cold. Then, there is this stuff on me! I have to get this stuff off because it is making it really tough to see, tough to walk.
What was that? What was that? Oh, it is one of those huge animals with the blazing eyes. They move so fast. They are really scary because their eyes only blaze after the sun goes down. I do not like them! Maybe they are angrier at night? Owls are that way. They hunt at night. I am glad I am too big for an owl to eat. I would probably eat an owl right now if I could, I am so hungry. Oh, but those fluffy things that the owls have, that all sky animals have. When I tear open a sky animal to eat, those fluffies get stuck between my teeth. I hate that.
Those poor animals that pop out of the ground. Even though they are tiny, those animals bark, just like me. I like them and would never kill and eat one. Owls do, though. I even saw an eye-blazer run over one of them, but the blazer never looked back. It just kept on running. At least when I kill, I eat. But, not the eye-blazers. It is as though they do not see the animals they crush to death. Even so, the eye-blazer gives other animals something to eat, especially those big, black sky animals with the high, shrill bark.
“I did not mean to cover you.”
“Who barked that?”
“Me. I am what is covering you. I am called Tar. I never meant to cover you.”
“What are you? And, how come I can hear and understand you. I can barely understand others like me. I only learned to understand the bark in that place."
"What place?"
"It is the place with other animals like me, the place with the two-legged animals, and the hard bars, and the barking that never stops. I was there for what seemed like forever. But, I was so young, and had no idea what forever looked like until that big two-legs, the one with the pups, took me to its warren from there. I was at that warren for many sunrises. But when I got bigger, the biggest two-legs took me out into the woods and let me go. I have been walking ever since. Walking is forever. Running too, sometimes. I hate walking! I hate running! I hate forever! But, I also hate being hunted, so I walk, and I run. I like to eat, so I have to scrounge and hunt. That means, I have to sneak, walk, and run. Do you know what I liked?"
"No, what?"
"I really liked it when the two-leg's pups laid their paws on me and rubbed my back, my head, and
especially my belly."
“I am laying on you. Yet, you do not like it?”
“No. I do not! You are laying all over my right side, clogging my face,. You are clogging my ear, my tail, and my paws. You make it harder to walk, harder to hear, and much harder to see. And, you are heavy. You lay on me, but you do not rub me like they did. The rubbing was nice. It made me feel good and peaceful. No! Instead, you are just a sticky burden!”
“Well, those two-legs, as you call them, use me to keep the rain out of a, what did you call it, warren. I do not mind that. The rain just rolls off my back. The snow does not bother me either. I am glad to be helpful. But, I do not like the wind. Over time, wind wears me down. I am Tar because that is what the two-legs call me.”
“So, your job is to cover things. Is that why you are covering me?”
“No, I am covering you because you walked through some of me after a two-legs had spilled me. I did not do anything. It is you who chose to walk through me. I laid where I was spilled. See, I lay n whatever they put me on top of. That is what I do. And yes, I am heavy: thick and heavy. Thick and heavy is perfect for keeping out the rain, the snow.”
“Well, how do I get you off of me?”
“Sorry to say, I do not know. We may be stuck together for a very long time; so, we had best get used to it. We had best learn to stick together and like it.”
“I do not like that idea one bit. Maybe if I roll around, dirt will remove you!”
"I do not think that is a good idea," Tar cautioned. "Remember, I stick to things. And sometimes, things stick to me."
Not really caring what Tar thought, I found a patch of dirt and grass, and rolled over and through it, squirming and hoping it would help. It did not. If anything, it made matters worse. Now, Tar had dirt and grass stuck all over it and all over me. Oh, I wish I had stayed away from Tar. I was so hungry, though, and needed something. My first lick told me it was just so bad, told me that I could not eat it. "Grrrrr!” Oh, this rolling around, it is of no use!
“What are you doing?" Tar asked. "Now, you have attached all sorts of other things to me. Tar is sticky. I told you that. Yet, you roll around in things anyway? What as the matter with you!”
“Look, I am getting desperate! That is the matter with me! Maybe, I should just let the coyotes eat me. It would only hurt a little bit, but at least I would be out of this misery. No more misery. I would be dead, just like that animal that pops out of the ground, the ones run over all the time by the eye-blazers. Maybe I could just run out in front of one of the blazers, sit down, and let it crush me. That might be even faster than the coyotes. I cannot take this anymore, Tar. I just cannot.”
“Then, maybe that is what you should do,” Tar replied, a look of complete conviction fixed on its
dark complexion.
So, I sat and waited until nightfall. Not many of the blazers run out here in the woods, but some do. Some have warrens here, and I know of one who goes and comes fairly often. When it comes, it stops and stays at one of the warrens. It stays sometimes for what seems like the sunset to long after the sunrise. That is many flea bites of time. One of the two-legs somehow escapes the eye-blazer and walks into the warren. All sorts of suns go on inside the warren, like that animal can control them. After the sunrise, two-legs gets back into the eye-blazer, and the blazer runs way until after sunset. It is really strange, and the two animals do this for sunrise after sunrise, and sunset after sunset. It is hard to believe. I just hope it runs here tonight. Then, I can dash out and let the blazer kill me.
Oh, wait. There it is! There it is! It looks so angry in the dark. Don’t run just yet. Wait. Wait. Okay! Now! Run!
"Skreeeeeeeeech!"
Somehow, the eye-blazer stopped right before it ran on top of me. The two-legs escaped from inside it, and began barking in a low, gentle manner. I like this. I remember this. You could see in its eyes, the two-legs was both sad and frightened. I could smell its fear, too. I did not want it touching me, so I began to move away. It then went back to the eye-blazer and pulled out a long thing with a loop on the end.
What? What is this? It has me by the throat. I have to shake it off. I have to fight. No! Stop! No! Just kill me! Do not capture me! Do not eat me! Just kill me! One of you caught me once! It hurt me! But, I got away! No! Do not!
I began snarling and snapping at the two-legs. Oh, now I cannot move my feet. Something is tangling them together. I cannot bite. Something is tangling my mouth shut. No! Stop!
Two-legs put me in the back of the beastly eye-blazer. Then, it got inside , and we ran all the way to the warren. Eye-blazer then stopped running and growling. Two-legs escaped from inside again, like it always does, and walked into the warren. Suns came on inside like they do after every sunset. As a few flea bites passed, I tried to get loose. Just then, two-legs came back out with, strangely enough, things filled with food and water.
What? What is this?
I stopped fighting so much and just laid there. At this point, I was more thirsty and hungry than frightened. I had not eaten anything other than grass and had no water for at least four sunrises. Oh, I cannot fight this two-legs. I am too weak. Just end it now, two-legs. Get it over with. But then, something even stranger happened. Two-legs took me down from the eye-blazer's back and set me beside me the things filled with food and water. Then, two-legs somehow released my feet and, best of all, my mouth. I was so frightened, so hungry, so thirsty that I ignored two-legs and dove right into the food and water.
Oh! So good! So delicious! So wet! Maybe, the wet can help get Tar off of me? Oh, please, two-legs, please! Do you have some more food and water? Can you take Tar off of me? Please? Do you? Can you? Oh, wait! Wait! Why am I suddenly so sl-sleepy? I c-can’t keep my h-head up. I, uh…
I awoke to find two-legs gently rubbing Tar with something wet. Then, I noticed it. Tar was coming off. Two-legs saw I was awake, and it barked gently, almost like the animal that purrs, the one with the pointy ears. I like the purr, though this animal also yowls and attacks with claws. Will two-legs attack with its claws?
Oh, no! Two-legs has something in its paw. It looks sharp, like claw. Will it scratch me? Even if it does, I cannot move. I am still too tired to move, too hungry. I will just lay here until it has killed me.
Wait! Somehow two-legs is using claw to cut off big clumps of Tar from my face. Oh, now Tar is off of my ear. Oh, that feels so good. I love this. The water, the purr, the touch. "Good bye, Tar!"
"Good bye," Tar replied, not really caring one way or the other.
I suddenly remembered the little two-legged pups, the ones in that other warren. They also were nice to me, just like this. I loved that very much. But then, the big two-legs, I think it was the sire of the smaller ones, took me deep into the woods and just let me go. I wonder? Will this nice two-legs do the same thing? Why did the other two-legs do that? I loved that warren so much. I loved the pups who lived there so much. Remembering them makes me cry. They were so nice until that bad day in the woods.
"Woooooooo! Wooooooo!" I howled.
This nice two-legs became alarmed at my tears. I could hear real concern in his purr. Suddenly, it stroked the top of my head with its big paw. That felt nice, and I stopped crying mostly.
Two-legs kept barking something that sounded like Kahellen. I couldn’t make that sound in a million suns, even if I tried. It then put more things of food and water on the ground. I sensed it was the food and water that had made me sleepy before, and thought I had better not touch it. Yet, I was so hungry and thirsty. Well, if all this did was make me sleepy, that would be okay. I am tired anyway, and need to sleep.
This two-legs does not seem like it is going to hurt me, though, not like the coyotes, not like the two-legs that put me in the woods, and not like that other two-legs that tried to capture me. I mean, why would it harm me after removing Tar and bringing me food and water? Okay, I decided. I will eat.
And, I did. And though I am sleepy, I did not fall asleep this time.
Suddenly, I had to go outside. I mean, I really had to go. So, I walked over to the place in the side of the warren where we had entered. But, the opening was gone. Where, where did it go? Is there no way out? Is this a trick? I looked up at Kahellen, hoping it was not going to hurt me, that it had not played a trick me.
Kahellen seemed to understand what I meant, and walked over. Somehow, it made the opening reappear, and I walked outside. Oh, it felt so good to be outside again. I was now clean, had food in my belly, and the water was so refreshing.
Then, I thought of something. I can either run off into the woods right now, or maybe I can stay with Kahellen inside the warm warren, with the food and water. I looked at the woods. Then, I looked at Kahellen, who was standing in the opening of the warren watching me. No! No more woods! Not if a nice animal like Kahellen is willing to be so nice to me. I am clean, and I am fed. Kahellen did this for me, and it did not have to.
So, I made the hot water and the stink over by a tree, and trotted back over to Kahellen and looked up into its face. It showed its teeth, but not in an angry way. It was in more of a playful way, in the way the little two-leg's pups had done long ago. I looked then at the opening and then up into Kahellen's face, my tail wagging. It stood aside and let me back in, where I saw the things with food and water had been filled again.
Oh, what did I do to earn this blessing? I wandered for so many sunrises and sunsets, fought so many animals with my wile, claws, and teeth that I lost count. So many times, I had found myself covered from head to foot with stuff from the woods until the next, long rain, and went for long walks without food or water. Yet here, they are given to me without hunting, without scrounging, without begging.
How does this animal know what I need? All I know is, it does. It truly does. Kahellen willingly gives me all these things and more.
It has been many, many sunrises and sunsets later. Even though we are both older, Kahellen still gives me all these things. It does so out of love, which is something I have learned even more about over the years. For this kindness, for this love, I know from experience I am truly blessed.
For this kindness, I am truly grateful. I am glad I stayed here. We are a pack of two, and I am glad I let Kahellen be in charge. I am happy. This is now my home. My tail wags all the time. I am at peace.
--- What was the original American Aurora? The Aurora was a newspaper published by Benjamin Franklin Bache , a grandson of Benjamin Franklin. The Aurora was published in Philadelphia, our nation's capitol at the time.
The Aurora was highly critical of what Bache felt was the tyrannous Federalist governments of presidents Washington and Adams.
The result? Adams imprisoned Bache for sedition, where he languished, awaiting trial, until his death from yellow fever at age 29.
