[ Solo ] Dead Things [ Honours the Dead ]
Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:51 am
[imgleft]https://matope-swamp.com/images/starry/ ... uncert.png[/imgleft]Set prior to his naming; childhood. Possible trigger warning for decomposition though it is implied rather than graphically described.
Stench. It was always the stench that caught him first. Dead things always smelled and they were avoided and ignored where they could be and where they couldn't they were cast aside so as to not bother anyone anymore. He didn't see the reasoning in things being tossed aside simply because they no longer breathed air into their lungs. He looked down upon the creature - it was a foxbun, one good ear remained untouched for now and it flopped over a face that was already leaving flesh behind to only remain as bone. He had seen this particular foxbun many times (and even chased it sometimes when he was much younger) as she foraged for food for itself and its offspring - he wondered if she had born any recently and if he would soon be honouring them as he would their mother.
It did not take him long to prepare the hole - she was only a small thing and most of her had been carried away for something larger's dinner. He nudged her gently until she flopped into the hole, her still remaining ear framing what was left of her face. It did not need to be alert anymore, she was not listening for danger anymore - it had already claimed her. In the hole with her he placed some wildflowers of blue and white that gave of a strong, sweet smell and gave her something pleasant to rest on. They too would die - he had ripped them from their roots and he hoped that when he was older he might be able to plant seeds instead so that new life may spring from the old. But he is too young for that now.
He silently tells her he is sorry she has gone but it was her time and sometimes it just isn't fair. He rolls a stone onto the mound, marking its location so that others may avoid it. In time, dead leaves and twigs and more dirt will cover the mound, blending it in with the rest of the Earth and she will finally be gone from the world. Until then, at least, she will be surrounded by flowers and hidden from scavengers so that she may go in peace.
Eyes watched him, though he was not aware, noting everything he did and the care he took, the time he spent. It was not the first time they had watched him but this would be the last for they had made the decision finally to grant him a name.
-----
Same location, adulthood
The earth has consumed all trace of her, but he remembers the shape of the trees and the flowers. Blue and white spreads further now and the smell fills his lungs and he smiles softly. He has others to visit, but he always visits her first for she is the one he was named after. He still sees her, even after all this time; traces of her in her children's children and whenever he smells the blue and white flowers.
Honours the Dead knows that she is no longer here, that she has gone to the place the dead go when it is their time and that she would not hold it against him if he did not visit her but it was not his way. Still, he could not stay long - there is always more dead things to honour.
Stench. It was always the stench that caught him first. Dead things always smelled and they were avoided and ignored where they could be and where they couldn't they were cast aside so as to not bother anyone anymore. He didn't see the reasoning in things being tossed aside simply because they no longer breathed air into their lungs. He looked down upon the creature - it was a foxbun, one good ear remained untouched for now and it flopped over a face that was already leaving flesh behind to only remain as bone. He had seen this particular foxbun many times (and even chased it sometimes when he was much younger) as she foraged for food for itself and its offspring - he wondered if she had born any recently and if he would soon be honouring them as he would their mother.
It did not take him long to prepare the hole - she was only a small thing and most of her had been carried away for something larger's dinner. He nudged her gently until she flopped into the hole, her still remaining ear framing what was left of her face. It did not need to be alert anymore, she was not listening for danger anymore - it had already claimed her. In the hole with her he placed some wildflowers of blue and white that gave of a strong, sweet smell and gave her something pleasant to rest on. They too would die - he had ripped them from their roots and he hoped that when he was older he might be able to plant seeds instead so that new life may spring from the old. But he is too young for that now.
He silently tells her he is sorry she has gone but it was her time and sometimes it just isn't fair. He rolls a stone onto the mound, marking its location so that others may avoid it. In time, dead leaves and twigs and more dirt will cover the mound, blending it in with the rest of the Earth and she will finally be gone from the world. Until then, at least, she will be surrounded by flowers and hidden from scavengers so that she may go in peace.
Eyes watched him, though he was not aware, noting everything he did and the care he took, the time he spent. It was not the first time they had watched him but this would be the last for they had made the decision finally to grant him a name.
-----
Same location, adulthood
The earth has consumed all trace of her, but he remembers the shape of the trees and the flowers. Blue and white spreads further now and the smell fills his lungs and he smiles softly. He has others to visit, but he always visits her first for she is the one he was named after. He still sees her, even after all this time; traces of her in her children's children and whenever he smells the blue and white flowers.
Honours the Dead knows that she is no longer here, that she has gone to the place the dead go when it is their time and that she would not hold it against him if he did not visit her but it was not his way. Still, he could not stay long - there is always more dead things to honour.