~Lupus In A Minor~
By WordWulf, 9th Oct 2011 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutWritingShort Stories
~death song of the she wolf~end of end of night~chords of dissonance~man invades in drunk shades~ shallow celebration~child child stand away~steel bird & fire sticks~foul reek of civilization~
~Lupus In A Minor~
Her voice growls while she sleeps, her legs pump furiously, faster and faster but never quick enough to meet her friends. They are fighting a war of darkness where the sun stops and the moon begins, uncertain peace between the essence of the tides.
Slowly she awakens, having become a part of the place where consciousness is suspended in her journey across night. The wind whispers through the trees. She drinks its night scent, is reluctant to awaken to attend the war.
The faces of her family assail her, the brave mate of her life first. When the angry bird came with man-gods in its belly, he led the pack to a secret den but the bird followed and found them. It chased them higher and higher into the ice mountains.
She remembers his final nuzzling as he told her to take the others, her sister and the young male, four healthy pups. Then the bird ripped the night, blinding them with the rays of its moon. He snarled at them as the pups attempted to follow and the bird followed him as he led it away from the pack.
There was a great storm as the bird beat its wings against the Earth. Fire spit from the sticks of the men as he raged against the storm, leapt toward the bird. His body was lifted and held, black against a cloud of white. The greatest spirit she had known lay broken on the ground and the man-gods laughed as the bird screamed away. Her voice began its mournful song, answered and joined by those of the pack, each voice different from the next, hers above and beyond the others in its awful pain.
The haunting sound it made was pure of lament, a last farewell to the mate of her life. She licked his freezing wounds, nuzzled his stiffening body, gathered her young and the others. The wind moaned through the mountain forest as she led them away.
They are silent shadows, starving and running, when the bird finds them once more. Her sister stumbles, lays broken in a pool of blood. The young male refuses to leave her, nipping and whimpering nervously, encouraging her to rise and flee. The storm bird returns and he joins her forever. A witness from the trees, wild eyes, she and her young are shadows watching.
Thoughts of her young bring her awake with a start. Nature is merciful; the memory of the slaughter of her children is held from her. She whimpers as she licks her fur, tastes the blood of each of them. There is a howling come down, the most ungodly sound these men have ever heard, a single voice of thousands crying out loss and rage, the darkest sign of profound pain and loneliness. It is not of this earth. Fear stands their man-hair on end as they break camp.
Unlike her black mate, she is silver. Their man-eyes don’t see her until she is in the camp. They rush to their guns as she crouches in their midst. She knows what they have to offer, the release she comes seeking. She drinks their fear as the fire sticks speak. She doesn’t hear their hollow nervous laughter when it is over. She rides the pieces of lead into the embrace of her family.
They are gone running, shadows slipping through the storm, until their sweet ghost song, voices lifting on wind, are all that remains in that dark place where the sun stops and the moon begins, uncertain peace between the essence of the tides.
© artwork & words conceived by & property of Tom (WordWulf) Sterner ©
Tom (WordWulf) Sterner
The Boy & the Wolf
Flagstaff Mountain
Snow Angels
Comments
9th Oct 2011 (#)
Loved this, Tom. Great share.
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9th Oct 2011 (#)
Well, all I can say, Word wulf, is WOW! Loved this page: loved the story - love your sense of the 'unreal' - superb!
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10th Oct 2011 (#)
Reminded me of Damien... I am thinking of the Blind Bat (bird of the night) which flies the night and hates the sight of the sun. They also say be careful of the Bat they are carriers of Rabies.
The moon does borrow the light from the Sun any way to create the resplendent beauty of the night with silver cascading moonbeams that brings tranquilty as animals of the night now start to sleep in peace after feeding on their prey.
Good One!!!
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10th Oct 2011 (#)
By the Way its the first time I have heard of Lupus in Music. The only Lupus I know if SLE (Systems Lupus Erythematosus) which does have two versions of it.
A Minor is the first minor scale and is related to C Major. It has a raised 7th which makes it G Sharp. Seen clearly in a Harmonic Minor and in a melodic Minor its F Sharp and G Sharp raised while ascending and cancelled out while descending.
Good Luck!!!
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10th Oct 2011 (#)
BTW that is G sharp B and D Sharp and in A Minor it is the Dominant.
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10th Oct 2011 (#)
Thank-you,
The reference to Lupus in this piece is made to the animal and the constellation. The A-minor chord resonates with my spirit, a favorite of mine in dirges I sing.
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10th Oct 2011 (#)
A gripping read, WW! Your thoughts and images will be with me for a long time.
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10th Oct 2011 (#)
I appreciate that:-_
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12th Oct 2011 (#)
The brilliance with which you weave words never ceases to astound me, WordWulf. Would that I could...
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8th Nov 2011 (#)
So powerful, Tom, and yet so sad to read... You are a master Story teller my friend..
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