As we left off...Todd, standing alone and up on his back feet before
the altar folded his paws even more tightly against his chest (more
for protection than supplication) and continued--
"Oh, Man-God...We have brought you a sacrifice."
Todd turned and looked over to Loki Dog, who had by then managed to
bring the terrified Sterling the Cat back to consciousness by means of
some rough licking. Loki stood tall and slowly walked over to where
the three chickens were huddled together for comfort before the pellet
stove. There on the carpet lay the egg, the beautiful plump brown egg.
Three Buck the Rooster, sitting with the head of one of each of his
wives tucked beneath a wing for comfort met Loki's soft brown eyes as
she walked over to the egg. The Rooster narrowed his own red eyes and
seemed to weigh the Dog. Was she worthy of doing this? Finally the
Rooster closed his eyes and turned his head away, snuggling both of his
wives more deeply into the warmth of his downy embrace. Let it be done.
Loki Dog very nervously reached her head down to the carpet, and rolled
the egg into the cradle of her white teeth with her soft dark lips. She
turned and walked carefully, slowly over to the altar. The drums beat
rhythmically in the background, the metal objects with them clashed
and clapped and beat out a strange symphony. And save for that savage
melody, not a sound could be heard in the house. Not the click of a
toenail, the rustle of feather against feather. Loki gently deposited
the egg atop the altar and then all was still. The music ended
abruptly, and at first its absence seemed a greater discordance than
the bizarre rhythm that had been beaten out by the drums. Silence lay
heavy upon the household.
Todd the Ferret took a half step closer to the altar and reached out
one dark paw. He closed it along the shining stainless steel body of
a fork, one of the 'shinies' arranged atop the white altar cloth.The
metal was cold in his paw. Heavy. He held it...held it....and released
it with a clatter. He buried his face in his two front paws and
whispered simply "I can't. I can't. I can't be like them." He stood
alone, looking so fragile, even more fragile than the egg. Caff-Pow
took several slow bounces to stand by his friend's side, and then he
wrapped his arms around the much smaller Todd and squeezed tight. The
Cat padded over to the two, dropped his head and rubbed them both with
one ear. He backed up a few steps and rubbed them both with the other
ear, nearly knocking the two down. He turned his motor on, and began
to purr. His whiskers vibrated. He turned a figure eight and mashed
the two ferrets with th first ear, again.
Tina the Turtle stood up against the glass wall of her tank and began
to mark wet, curvilinear tracks into the glass with her nose.
Loki Dog padded over to the altar and once again rolled the brown egg
carefully into the cage of her white teeth, being careful not to crush
or crack it, not even a little bit. She didn't even get much dog spit
on it. But she did gently lay it on the carpet before Three Bucks, who
was still comforting his wives. As Loki turned away she heard him begin
to whisper very quietly to the hens. She walked back over to the two
Ferrets and the still ear-thumping Cat. Loki looked back over her
shoulder at the chickens and Three Bucks was crooning softly to his
wives, rocking them gently, their heads once again out from beneath
his wings. And she smiled the all-fangs smile of a Dog, which honestly
isn't particularly encouraging to members of many other species, but
hers was entirely sincere with no Wolf in it at all.
The End
**********************************************************
And to the Wolf among us, you know who you are and what you did. And
I'm thinking that maybe your scalp itches. Tingles a bit. Just a bit.
Have you checked your hairbrush, lately?
Alexandra in MA
[Posted in FML 7300]
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