Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Before the Beginning
It was the first draught year Ashfad had known in 20 years, since he was a little boy. Hoofed urus were hard to find, and they were all bones poking through fur that looked draped on as an afterthought. Vegetables scarcely blinked through the dry earth before retreating, as if scared of the sun’s intense heat.
Ashfad surveyed the land. It looked as if the earth had been roasted over a fire and broken into little pieces of dried clay. "Imagine," he said to Sulwood, his hunting partner, "if we never had to hunt again, if the animals would stop running from us. If they would lay down before us so we could take our pick for the slaughter."
Ashfad returned to his wife, Mersk, empty-handed. His empty hands entwined with hers, and they swayed together in slow motion. They settled for a watery rye soup and laid themselves to rest with their daughter snoring rapidly a few feet away. Ashfad was amazed with the big noises that came from such a girthless little girl.
When he finally joined his family in the somnambulant dreamscape he couldn’t quite place his family among the animals there. The urus were plentiful, fat, and prepared to absorb his spear that he might live another day. Strangest of all, they were tame like dogs. They had no fear of Ashfad, just as he had imagined it with Sulwood.
Ashfad surveyed the land. It looked as if the earth had been roasted over a fire and broken into little pieces of dried clay. "Imagine," he said to Sulwood, his hunting partner, "if we never had to hunt again, if the animals would stop running from us. If they would lay down before us so we could take our pick for the slaughter."
Ashfad returned to his wife, Mersk, empty-handed. His empty hands entwined with hers, and they swayed together in slow motion. They settled for a watery rye soup and laid themselves to rest with their daughter snoring rapidly a few feet away. Ashfad was amazed with the big noises that came from such a girthless little girl.
When he finally joined his family in the somnambulant dreamscape he couldn’t quite place his family among the animals there. The urus were plentiful, fat, and prepared to absorb his spear that he might live another day. Strangest of all, they were tame like dogs. They had no fear of Ashfad, just as he had imagined it with Sulwood.
Labels: 2009, Fiction, philosophy, short story
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Seems to me that a running theme throughout western literature is the subjugation of others in such a way that the other sees himself as the willing accomplice in satisfying the creator's id. This brings to mind the old Greek myth of Pygmalion and Gaetea, The Taming of the Shrew, Bertold Brecht's skewering of the theme in "If Only Sharks were Men," the content slaves in Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus stories, and so on.
Donwanna sully the good writing, but
it's April Fool's day and I am half drunk
I swear I saw a Hoofed urus in my front yard.
But it was only some perv looking into my window and saying, "you're showing your age, you bitch."
And he went on to hum show tunes.
I gotta lay off this stuff.
it's April Fool's day and I am half drunk
I swear I saw a Hoofed urus in my front yard.
But it was only some perv looking into my window and saying, "you're showing your age, you bitch."
And he went on to hum show tunes.
I gotta lay off this stuff.
Benji - thanks so much for sharing your creativity and insights - you are a rare person who can think and write on many different levels about many different subjects- everything from poetry-to real tales from your life- to fiction and you never pull any punches with your honesty and integrity !!!!!!!!
as it is still April Fool's Day here i will take a peek for an uru outside (or god forbid inside:-) now!
I really enjoyed Xdell's , ivan's and the other comments - you all make me wish I had stayed in school though:-)
all the best in the world to you and your family my friend!!!!!!!!!!!
as it is still April Fool's Day here i will take a peek for an uru outside (or god forbid inside:-) now!
I really enjoyed Xdell's , ivan's and the other comments - you all make me wish I had stayed in school though:-)
all the best in the world to you and your family my friend!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, if only dreams were reality how much fun would we not have?
I could see the scorched earth Benji. What a sorrowful sight this was too
I could see the scorched earth Benji. What a sorrowful sight this was too
Toast: "If you build it, they will come." WP Kinsella
XD: I'd say that was a running theme in non-western literature too.
Ivan: We hit a giant auroch on the 103 just last week. They gotta twin that road.
XD: I'd say that was a running theme in non-western literature too.
Ivan: We hit a giant auroch on the 103 just last week. They gotta twin that road.
TC: Thanks!
Devin: Thanks, and speaking of school, wouldn't it be nice to go back some day? That's kinda my retirement plan, if scholarships still exist in 2050.
MD: as the characters in this story will soon learn, some dreams are better left in the somnambulant dream-scape.
Devin: Thanks, and speaking of school, wouldn't it be nice to go back some day? That's kinda my retirement plan, if scholarships still exist in 2050.
MD: as the characters in this story will soon learn, some dreams are better left in the somnambulant dream-scape.
All: I'm really stuck in the real world here, but working on a lot of exciting things. I may just post about those at some points in a bout of desperate self-promotion. Most excitingly my first novel is coming out in September. The cover is ready to go - now just to get the content right!
Hope all my blogger buddies are well.
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Hope all my blogger buddies are well.
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