Saturday, August 06, 2011

The Way Of Things: A Dog Story, Chapter XXVII

The end is near . . .

XXVII

The Hound only had a second to take in the loss of the Old One before he had to face more Creepers.  Surging now, they were clearly confident that they could finish off the remaining two dogs without a struggle. And the two dogs were beginning to consider joining their friend on the floor.

A slightly larger than average Creeper materialized in the middle of the room, took in the body of the Old One on the floor and laughed.

 We have the door! It shrieked to the other Creepers.  Finish with these nothings and return to our Queen.

Cheering the rest of the Creepers intensified their attack. The two dogs were now fighting just to stay alive. They were too busy to hear the flap on the dog door as it flew open again and again.  Too busy to hear the sound of paws padding through the house.

And they didn’t notice the strange female  Border Collie,  emerge from the doorway.  She plowed into the mass of Creepers and took up the battle as though she fought them every day.  Just after that, a large, male Coyote didn’t so much seem to enter as to fade into the room. Outside the house they could hear more paws pounding through the leaves and judging from the sound of their snarls, they’d found more Creepers.
The Hound howled, and the outsiders joined voices, their baying reverberating off the walls, rattling the windows.

The Small Dog neared the Hound, grappling with a Creeper’s claws. The Creeper was bleeding and screaming. He looked at their new companions and back at the Hound.

I prayed for help.  The Hound rolled another Creeper, shook it until it stopped moving.   

The Border Collie glanced their way as she drove a small pack of Creepers into a corner and began picking them off one by one. Someone heard you.

We will enemies tomorrow. The Coyote leapt between the Small Dog and a Creeper, destroyed it with relish, and moved on to the next. Tonight we are Whole.

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