| Author | Message | ||
| M
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 4356 Registered: 11-1998 |
Honorable Mention Beyond Suburban Fences Gary Blankenship The hunter tests his bow, one less robin flies autumn skies. The hunter unleashes his dog, fewer cats roam narrow allies. The hunter mounts his horse, the forest quiets from river to stream. In a thicket beyond crooked roads, unplowed fields and abandoned barns, the last doe listens to the silence, the last fawns tremble at her side. To save her young, the doe gives the hunter a glimpse of her trembling rump, the dog the scent of a mother’s fear. The chase will be long, rider, horse, dog and doe will tire, but the one cannot let up until caught and the others will not. We know the end to this tale - the doe’s blood warms late clover, the fawns lost - victims of wild packs, the hunter rides home triumphant, the dog eyes the trophy sack as flies converge on scarlet grass. But if a bow string breaks, if a dog runs into briar thickets, if a horse trips, if a rider falls, skull cracked on mountain stone, will the last doe raise her young? Will the last fawns still be the last? |
