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]