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03-23-2014, 11:42 PM
LAVIY
DON'T SHED A TEAR FOR ME, I STAND ALONE
Rough tree bark rubs sweat and shed fur off my forehead as I shift my weight settling my hooves into the bed of slimy leaves and thin snow. Comfortable now I doze, drifting in and out as various noises rouse me and then at last I am slumbering deeply again. This time my dreams remain peacefully uplifting in a way that my daily life has never been and I cling hard to them.
Snow drifts to my back from the branches above my head as winged creatures move through them but I sleep on...
Ms. Parrot’s first missile falls to the ground on my left side and does not rouse me...
The second, better aimed, connects squarely on my rear. It was delivered with enough force to cause a sharp, stinging sensation… much like the kiss of a whip, something I’ve felt more than often enough in my lifetime. I am awake instantly and turn cringingly to resume whatever assigned task I’d fallen idle in the middle of.
I am half way out from under the tree’s cover when I realize that I have no task to return to. There is no brutal unicorn standing over me with one of those judging glowers that so often marred their perfect faces. Confused now I stop moving entirely and consider the situation.
There is no slave driver in site and thus no whip, yet I know I felt one. Did I dream it as I dreamed my fall from the sky? No, no it felt far too real. Something hit me.. something…
A search of the ground finds the rolled bark pellet half sunk in the snow. What in the world? I suppose I might have scraped the bark off the tree in my sleep but I certainly didn’t hit myself with it. That would take more talent than I could possibly have. A puzzled look to the tree branches above me reveals nothing at first. Stumped I return to my hunt over the ground seeking clues of any kind.
The branches rustle and I look up again… nothing…
It is something like the fifth or sixth glance up that finally yields results and even then only tenuous ones. I spot, or at least am firmly convinced that I’ve spotted, the glint of a wide and rounded eye peering mischievously down at me.
Birds! Once my brothers and sisters of the air, in the carefree days of my youth, and now my greatest envy. I have suffered much in my life, much that perhaps I need not have were I stronger, braver, or simply luckier. It is not in me to stand against those more powerful than I but Gods help me I will not suffer such treatment from feathered pests!
My temper, slow to ignite but relentless once burning, flares to life. I quelch it just enough to act with some modicum of sense. Whirling about as if to flee the scene entirely I judge my distance from the tree trunk and at just the right place lash out hard with a hind leg. I believe I have hit solidly enough to send tremors through every branch in the great tree and perhaps even shake my tormentors loose. I apologize silently to the tree itself and whatever spirits might reside within it but still I hope my “attack” has some effect...
THIS PATH OF DESTINY, IS ALL MY OWN
@[Africa] - please let me know if you'd rather not be tagged.
