04-11-2015, 07:09 PM
and death shall have no
DOMINION
A few days’ distance didn’t make much difference to tragedy, as it turned out. Dom was sore all over, her cracked ribs aching with every breath. Bruises had formed where she’d been struck by falling rocks. The gashes had scabbed over, but it would be a few weeks before she was in fighting form again. Worse than all of that was the way her body reminded her more with every passing day that she didn’t have a baby to nurse anymore. Like losing her whole world wasn’t enough, she had to be reminded of it with every step she took. And it would get worse before it got better. Not that any of it would ever be better.
She ran, heavy hooves pounding the earth even though it hurt, even though it pulled on torn skin and aching bones and made her pant and grit her teeth against the pain of engorged mammary glands and the stretch of bruised muscles. Pain was good. Pain chased away flashes of memory, kept her from looking back at what was gone forever. And maybe she ran to punish the earth too, beating out her anger and her fury and her desolation with every strike of hoof against ground.
There were no new stars in the sky to mark the passing of her happy little family, no dancing soul-lights twinkling up above to show they’d made it safely into the next world. All stupid stories from her father’s lying tongue, spun of liquid silver and the cruelty of hope. Vicious, insidious hope that sank into hearts and minds and told tiny ears life was something sweet and beautiful, full of endless potential even when darkness loomed on the horizon. All lies. Life was always only ever ending.
She wouldn’t forget again.
Dom ran for miles, far from the lake that had once again become her landmark at the end of the world, the one familiar place when everything else was in ruins. She ran until the pain twisted into something sweet, and then she ground to a halt, tossing her head and snorting her frustration. Didn’t matter how hard she pushed her body. It wouldn’t change what was true.
Sadly, she wasn’t quite stupid enough to stand still after a run like that. It would certainly accomplish the goal of making her body hurt in ways that didn’t remind her of earthquakes and falling rocks and dead bodies, didn’t remind her of bright green eyes dulled by agony, and two words that haunted her sleep. “Hurts, Momma.” Even now, she wasn’t about to cripple herself to chase away a few more ghosts. So she walked until her breathing slowed, her heartbeat came back down, and the burning in her muscles faded before she finally stopped and took stock of her surroundings.
Almost dawn, the sky just starting to lighten on the horizon. Another cloudless night full of the same old stars was drawing to a close. Still cool and damp after the violent storm a few nights past, and the grass was rich and green from the rain. A few trees looked newly fallen, like the willow by her lake where Tarnished had found her, scorched and split by lightning, half of it crashing to the ground while the other half stood. Dom blew out a bitter breath at the symbolism, shook her head, and followed the curve of the land to a stream so she could quench her thirst, maybe grab a mouthful of grass before she set out again.
She ran, heavy hooves pounding the earth even though it hurt, even though it pulled on torn skin and aching bones and made her pant and grit her teeth against the pain of engorged mammary glands and the stretch of bruised muscles. Pain was good. Pain chased away flashes of memory, kept her from looking back at what was gone forever. And maybe she ran to punish the earth too, beating out her anger and her fury and her desolation with every strike of hoof against ground.
There were no new stars in the sky to mark the passing of her happy little family, no dancing soul-lights twinkling up above to show they’d made it safely into the next world. All stupid stories from her father’s lying tongue, spun of liquid silver and the cruelty of hope. Vicious, insidious hope that sank into hearts and minds and told tiny ears life was something sweet and beautiful, full of endless potential even when darkness loomed on the horizon. All lies. Life was always only ever ending.
She wouldn’t forget again.
Dom ran for miles, far from the lake that had once again become her landmark at the end of the world, the one familiar place when everything else was in ruins. She ran until the pain twisted into something sweet, and then she ground to a halt, tossing her head and snorting her frustration. Didn’t matter how hard she pushed her body. It wouldn’t change what was true.
Sadly, she wasn’t quite stupid enough to stand still after a run like that. It would certainly accomplish the goal of making her body hurt in ways that didn’t remind her of earthquakes and falling rocks and dead bodies, didn’t remind her of bright green eyes dulled by agony, and two words that haunted her sleep. “Hurts, Momma.” Even now, she wasn’t about to cripple herself to chase away a few more ghosts. So she walked until her breathing slowed, her heartbeat came back down, and the burning in her muscles faded before she finally stopped and took stock of her surroundings.
Almost dawn, the sky just starting to lighten on the horizon. Another cloudless night full of the same old stars was drawing to a close. Still cool and damp after the violent storm a few nights past, and the grass was rich and green from the rain. A few trees looked newly fallen, like the willow by her lake where Tarnished had found her, scorched and split by lightning, half of it crashing to the ground while the other half stood. Dom blew out a bitter breath at the symbolism, shook her head, and followed the curve of the land to a stream so she could quench her thirst, maybe grab a mouthful of grass before she set out again.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;